CANDON, ILOCOS SUR — After receiving a warm welcome from the Ilocanos before their match, F2 Logistics’ Ara Galang made sure to put on a show in front of the 3,275 spectators inside Candon City Arena here on Saturday night.
The Cargo Movers, along with the three other teams in the Candon City double-header, engaged with the fans at the Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College-Main Campus in a meet and greet.
Seeing how passionate the fans were in Ilocos Sur, the 28-year-old outside hitter from La Salle made it her mission to repay their love and support by performing at her best in their match against Galeries Tower.
“Kahapon lang doon sa meet and greet, ang daming tao, saka talagang ang taas ng energy nila. Nahiya nga kami after training at lunch, so talagang mababa yung energy namin, pero nung nakita namin sila, nakakatuwa,” said Galang.
“Nakakataba ng puso kasi syempre masaya silang makita kami, masaya rin naman kaming nakita namin sila, at na-meet namin sila dito kasi syempre hindi naman ito kalapit sa atin. Yun, kaya sulit. Sulit naman din,” she added.
And she delivered.
Galang stepped up for a Cargo Movers side that was missing top stars Kianna Dy (due to a knee injury) and Myla Pablo (feeling under the weather) and tallied a game-high 14 points on 11 attacks, two aces, and a block in the team’s 25-15, 25-22, 25-17 victory over the Highrisers.
Besides giving back to the fans, the pride of Angeles City, Pampanga said that she simply wanted to do her part and help out the team in any way she could.
“Ako, personally, yung mindset ko naman maka-contribute ako sa team. Hindi lang sa galaw, pero maka-contribute ako sa points. Kailangan lang mag-work kami together as a team, as one iisa yung galaw namin,” said Galang.
The Cargo Movers also received significant contributions from the likes of Jolina Dela Cruz (11 points), Majoy Baron (10 points), Aby Maraño (8 points), and fan-favorite Ivy Lacsina (6 points) in their second consecutive win in three contests.
Galang emphasized the importance of getting wins like this, where almost all the players are involved in the offense, in a long conference.
“Malaking bagay nga rin yun, at least napa-practice din namin. Malaking tulong yun for our next games. Syempre isa-isa ‘yan, mahaba nga yung conference, tatlong buwan yun, so ang mahalaga gumalaw kami ng as one.”
