After making her first finals appearance last season, Choco Mucho playmaker Deanna Wong is setting her sights on a much bigger goal in the upcoming 2024 Premier Volleyball League Season.
Wong and the Flying Titans concluded a dream run in the season-ending Second All-Filipino Conference, marking their first-ever finals appearance before losing to the more experienced Creamline via a sweep.
“We’re really motivated. Siguro hindi kami nagsi-stick doon sa kung anong natapos namin; we always start from scratch. So, balik kami kung ano yung kailangan naming gawin,” said the former UAAP Best Setter.
“So we’re gonna keep on training and keep on improving para, syempre, the next season, mataas pa yung goal na maabot namin,” she added.
The 5-foot-8 playmaker out of Cebu also shared that the valuable experiences they gained during the finals will significantly aid their campaign moving forward as they aim to surpass their silver-medal finish from the last conference.
Wong also mentioned that their finals run highlighted the areas they need to improve on, which is why they focused on these aspects during their off-season build-up.
“Siguro what we learned from the previous season, what we learned from the finals, doon kami nakakakuha ng kung anong dapat naming i-improve. Same pa naman yung training namin pero what needs to improve or what we need to work on doon kami nagfo-focus,” said the 25-year-old product of Ateneo.
During the off-season, the Flying Titans lost team captain Bea De Leon, multi-titled libero Denden Lazaro-Revilla, and Caitlyn Viray.
However, they managed to secure capable replacements in Mean Mendrez, Royse Tubino, Bia General, and Mars Alba.
Wong mentioned that all four players are still in the process of adjusting to Coach Dante Alinsunurin’s system.
However, she expressed confidence that they would be able to grasp it in time with the support of the rest of the Flying Titans.
“Okay naman, they’re learning to adapt to the system that Coach Dante is giving pero, syempre, kailangan pa i-polish. May minsan hindi nila nakukuha, minsan nakakalimutan nila, but andun naman yung teammates, yung team para tulungan sila at i-guide sila.”
