The end to the 2018 Reinforced Conference was one of the bleakest moments in Myla Pablo’s career.
One game away from leading the Pocari Sweat-Air Force Lady Warriors to the Finals, Pablo aggravated a back injury during their warm-ups, causing her to miss Game Three of the series. Although Pablo went home with the Most Valuable Player tiara, the Lady Warriors lost to Creamline in the do-or-die game and eventually fell to a fourth place finish without their captain.
After two months of rest and rehab, the hard-hitting open hitter is determined to lead the Lady Warriors to a better finish in the Open Conference.
The 5-foot-10 open spiker is averaging 20.3 points and 10 digs per match in Pocari Sweat 2-1 start in the season-finale.
Though her back isn’t fully healed, Pablo is sticking to a strict therapy regimen to continue playing. For her, nothing is more important than winning a championship.
“More therapy pa rin ako. Everyday naman ako nagte-therapy. Before ako magpunta ng training kailangan okay ‘yung likod ko sa bawat game ko. Pero ngayon ‘di na sumasakit,” said the former NU Lady Bulldog.
“Siguro noong Reinforced namin, do-or-die game kasi namin ‘yun, so siyempre masakit for me na hindi ako nakalaro eh. Alam ko kailangan ako ng team ko and then siguro motivation ko yun sa sarili ko na kailangan bumawi ako for All-Filipino,” the three-year pro added.
“Kailangan hindi lang pang semis lang kailangan iangat going to the Finals and championship makuha namin.”
The injury also forced Pablo out of several chances to don the country’s colors. For now, Pablo wants to be full -recovered before even thinking about a stint on the National Team.
“Ako kasi more on therapy pa ako. Hindi pa ako pwedeng sumabak sa ganoong sitwasyon, siyempre may PVL ulit tapos national team,” the native of Tarlac shared.
“So ‘di ko kayang pagsabayin lalo na masakit pa ‘yung likod ko, so sabi ko kay coach Shaq (Delos Santos) parang anuhin ko muna ‘yung back ko bago ako sumabak for the national team.”
