When Ponggay Gaston was recruited from the University of Santo Tomas high school, she was one of the best middle blockers in the UAAP Girls division.
Three years later, Gaston finds herself in a very different role, having been shifted into a libero a day before the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles’ second round showdown with the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws.
For the entire UAAP Season 80 Women’s Volleyball Tournament, watching the Lady Eagles try to field serves has been an exercise in frustration. In the first round, Ateneo gave up double-digit aces in four of their seven matches.
With Gaston as their primary receiving libero, Ateneo only coughed up three aces against FEU, a far cry from the 20 they gave during their round one meeting. Gaston had seven excellent receives out of 18 attempts, good for 38.9 percent efficiency, an improvement on Ateneo’s 22 percent norm.
The shift in position actually worked to Gaston’s advantage as she had a sprained left ankle, hampering her leaping ability.
“Well kasi I have a sprain, so iniisip ko na lang na ‘yun na lang ang trabaho ko, mag-receive. At saka dumepensa kung kaya,” the 20-year-old shared. “Pero ‘yun na lang ang iniisip ko kasi I don’t have to jump.
“Talagang ‘yung focus ko lang is to do my job, and to make my teammates happy.”
From middle blocker to winger to libero, the 5-foot-8 spiker is just happy that she can help the team and bring energy onto the court.
“Siguro kasi when I got to Ateneo na, sobrang nagbago na ‘yung position ko. I’m just used to changing all the time in training,” Gaston expressed. “Parang tanggap lang ng tanggap ng kahit anong binibigay ni Coach Tai (Bundit), kasi siya naman ang may alam kung anong maganda sa team.
“So instead of complaining or iniisip ko na shucks nahihirapan ako, iniisip ko na lang na siguro kaya ko kaya siguro binibigay ni Coach Tai ng palit-palit ng position — open, utility, middle,” she added.
“Parang puwede akong… Kasi hindi naman ako first six, so my job is to help the first six, and if it means be ready for any position, pumasok ka, gawin mo ‘yung trabaho mo. Yun ang iniisip ko.”
