Ending her UAAP career, Marleen Cortel of Adamson made her mark as one of the steady players in the UAAP and took her talents to the Philippine SuperLiga games to test the next level of volleyball play. In a quick talk, the 21-year old shared her views about the UAAP, her team, and about the current league she’s now part of.
After exhausting all of her five playing years for the Lady Falcons, Cortel believes that the competition in the UAAP increased a notch and each of the eight teams are equally balanced in terms of having the winning attitude and thirst for victory. The sport is also now at a level that can gain a lot of spectators and exposure.
Cortel shared that until now, she’s still training with the Lady Falcons and says that she wants to share the experience she had in the UAAP to the younger faces who will soon be Adamson’s core in the upcoming seasons. She says “Sa akin lang, kung anong maitutulong ko sa kanila habang nagttraining kami together, sana matuto silang magsipag.”
She adds that every team must be treated equally when it comes to playing them in games saying “Wag silang pa-chill chill lang; kasi ngayon lahat ng teams, as in lahat ng teams, sa UAAP lumalaban na. Mapa-UP, UE, as in lahat, wala kanang team na underdog ngayon. Unlike namin dati na may masasabi pa kaming ganun eh, wala na ngayon.”
In addition, Cortel mentioned the look of the Lady Falcons in Season 78 by sharing “[Ang mawawala sa team] is ako, si ate Amanda [Villanueva], si Faye Guevarra, Princess Listana. Si Erika Alkuino kasi may last playing year pa siya, kasi di siya na-line up sa FEU. Tapos si Paat andun pa rin. Si Paat ka-batch ko lang actually, nag University of Baguio, nag-residency lang siya, so maglalaro pa siya, more like 2 years.”
She started wearing the Adamson colors in 2010 and is now playing in the PSL games, both indoor and in beach. Last Saturday, she was eliminated from a podium finish in the beach volleyball games as part of the Amy’s duo, dropping her first game against Gilligan’s 21-14, 21-11. In the night cap of games, they also lost their classification match against Meralco, 21-17, 21-19 leaving the team to battle for a fifth place finish in their game this Saturday.
Despite the loss, she mentioned “Nag UAAP beach volleyball na din ako last year and naging 3rd kami ni ate Amanda sa Adamson kaya may experience na din ako ng konti.” However, she stressed the lack of chemistry with her tandem that haunted their chances in this tournament.
Lastly, she finds that these PSL games (both indoor and beach) are played on a higher intensity, with higher stakes, and all players having a tougher mindset into games compared to the collegiate level as she addressed “For me kasi, ito (PSL) pangmalakasan na talaga. Sa UAAP kasi college (level) yun, hindi naman sa sinasabi ko na madali lang pero mas grabe pa ‘to (PSL).”
