Bea De Leon did not suit up for the debuting Choco Mucho Flying Titans in their 2019 PVL Open Conference opener, Wednesday afternoon.
According to head coach Oliver Almadro, the 5-foot-11 middle blocker is still working on her conditioning after helping Ateneo capture the UAAP Season 81 Women’s Volleyball title three months ago.
“Kailangan namin i-strengthen pa yung legs niya kasi after UAAP, nag-therapy muna siya. And then hindi pwedeng kailangan sabak kaagad, so strengthening muna,” the multi-titled mentor, Almadro, said.
“Slowly, nagpa-practice naman na siya.”
Given this, the coaching staff opted not to field the 23-year-old in order to prevent the risk of injury.
“Sa ngayon, day-by-day siya eh. Kailangan ko talaga one-hundred percent,” Almadro said. “Pagka sinabi ng doctors ‘hundred percent’, [then] good. ‘Pag sinabi eighty-percent, [then] no, I like one-hundred percent.
“Ganoon naman kami as a team, so we have to make sure na one-hundred percent sila para they can give hundred-percent also.”
Still, De Leon was present alongside her sisters-in-arms, watching her teammates and cheering from the bench.
And her efforts to show support did not go to waste. The Flying Titans ran roughshod over the Bali Pure Water Defenders for their first win in the 2019 PVL Open Conference.
Choco Mucho now set their sights on PacificTown–Army Lady Troopers on Wednesday next week.
