Legendary arena barker Rolly Manlapaz is at his best when improvising nicknames for some of the country’s athletes.
In volleyball, some of his hits include La Salle’s Raymark “Raymark Wooooooooooo” Woo and UE’s Jeric “The Snake” Aljas. But his biggest hit in volleyball, so far, has been University of Santo Tomas Tigresses’ Mary “Boom” Pacres — a pun on novelty song “Boom Panes”.
Manlapaz started calling Pacres this when she made her debut in Season 77. Sadly, her boom was silenced in Season 78 as she failed to crack the lineup.
But now, right when UST needed her, Pacres made the Season 79 lineup, slightly leaner but still with her mean spikes.
In their second match of the season, the 18-year-old made waves, keeping UST afloat with a career-high 10 points in a loss to defending champs De La Salle University Lady Spikers.
Now assured of a role in the UST lineup, Pacres is bent on keeping her spot on the rotation.
“Sa totoo lang po gusto ko talagang bumawi kasi last game wala po akong laro tapos sa training lagi ako naba-block so tinry ko ang best ko na maibalik ang dating laro ko noong V-League,” Pacres said.
“Nagustuhan ko naman po ang pinakita ko ngayon kasi lahat po lumaban lalo na po noong fourth set, hindi namin hinayaan na gaganunin lang kami, lumaban naman po kami.”
As for her nickname, Pacres has gotten used to it.
“Sanay na po ako na tinatawag nila akong ‘Boom Pacres’ kasi sa training lagi po nila akong kinakantahan na ‘Boom Pacres…’ kaya ginawa ko na lang po siya sa avantage ko,” expressed the Mandaue City-native.
Happiest for Pacres is fellow Cebuana spiker and UST skipper Cherry Rondina.
“Talagang na-appreciate ko ‘yung tapang niyan ni Dim [Pacres] kasi malakas talaga loob niyan kahit anong sabihin mo sa kanya. Kapag umatras yan, ay, tiwala talaga akong patay na yan o babalik sa amin ng free ball,” Rondina told Tiebreaker Times.
With UST at 0-2, the outlook is still positive due to the way they fought. Another fighter on the team like Pacres on the squad, the Tigresses can still surely make noise.
