Coming off the bench in her last elimination game against the Blue Eagles, the senior Lady Spiker Carol Ann Cerveza delivered crucial points, especially in the fourth set. Unfortunately for her team, they came up short against the defending champions.
Cerveza delivered seven points, two coming from rejections. She scored five in the back-and-forth thrilling set but the Lady Spikers lost by two at the end.
Showing her patience in the deep Ramil de Jesus-mentored team, Carol mentioned her readiness whenever her number is called, even though she doesn’t often get a chance to step on the volleyball court.
“First game of the season pinasok ako kasi siyempre baka may jitters pa yung mga bago. Next six games of the first round hindi na ako nakalaro,” she said.
Entering the second round, the Lady Spikers continued to win but Cerveza’s entrance in the playing six had been limited. There were games where she would be fielded for a short amount of time, while there were also games wherein she watched from the sidelines.
Cerveza admitted the level of play in college was far different compared to the high school level of games.
“Four years na kong nasa line up. Kaya ako na recruit kasi nung high school ako may mga awards tapos siguro sa college medyo hindi ako naka keep up sa standards ng collegiate volleyball kaya nakalaro ako pero hindi significant minutes,” she shared.
But during their second-round game against FEU, Cerveza’s performance was huge off the bench, as she helped the Lady Spikers take care of business. After the teams split the first two sets wherein Ceverza did not play, she was started during the third and played until the last canto wherein she scored eight critical points.
“After the game (FEU), ang daming nagco-complement sakin, di ko naman alam ire-react ko. Pero one game lang yun eh, malay natin naka-chamba lang yun. Extra effort na lang sa training at inspired sa next games pag kailangan ng energizer, papanindigan ko na,” she explained.
True enough, Carol’s confidence grew anew as one of the team’s veteran spikers. Fast forward to the Ateneo game, she once again proved that she’ll be ready whenever Coach Ramil calls for her services.
Cerveza closed out by saying that it’s tough to earn minutes under Coach Ramil, but it did not discourage her from pushing herself.
“Although normal kabahan kasi ang tagal mong di nakalaro (whenever she gets benched), pero hindi na ako nag focus dun kailangan ko ipakita kay Coach yung laro ko and ma earn yung trust niya. Perform na lang.”
Cerveza and the rest of the Lady Spikers await the their opponent in their semi-final round with a twice-to-beat advantage after ending the elimination games at second with a 12-2 record.
