Michele Gumabao incurred late game errors in Creamline's elimination round game against F2 Logistics on February 18 in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference at the PhilSports Arena.
Gumabao's blunder proved costly for the Cool Smashers as it aided the Cargo Movers' win, 23-25, 25-18, 16-25, 25-23, 16-14.
Gumabao said that her errors in that contest really affected her and that's why she made it a point to atone for it when Creamline took on F2 in Game One of their best-of-three semis series on March 18, exactly one month apart from their elimination round game.
The opposite hitter dropped 20 points on 19 attacks and one block as she helped lead the Cool Smashers past the Cargo Movers, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 25-15, also at Ultra as they moved on cusp of their fifth straight finals appearance.
"I needed to bounce back from that previous game. Let's not talk about it coach (Sherwin Meneses)," said Gumabao in the post-game presser.
"That game really impacted me big time. I really wanted to atone for it for my teammates. All I was thinking was to make up for my errors. I got off to a shaky start but it was big for me that my coaches and teammates never lost their trust in me so I just need to try and try until you succeed."
With Gumabao one of the major driving forces, Creamline finally defeated F2 for the first time since the latter joined the league, nailing that first win in three matches.
But Gumabao is more worried about her team working on their mistakes as they try to finish off F2 in Game Two on Tuesday, March 21 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
"It's better late than never. It's good that we finally got the win here in the semifinals. Our coaches always tell us that we should not focus on our opponents but instead ourselves. Our lapses keep on showing so we really try to overcome it but it's still there so that's what we have to work on in our practice for our next game," she said.
"We really just have to work, exert effort and train. Our training is really important. We won't have any rest this last stretch so we really need to persevere in our training. Everything is being taught to us from the scouting report so we just really have to execute well."