Mean Mendrez stepped up on Thursday night, leading PLDT to a straight sets victory over Army-Black Mamba in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
The 24-year-old spiker out of San Pedro, Laguna posted a game-high 11 points on nine attacks and two blocks to spearhead the High Speed Hitters’ 25-19, 25-12, 25-21 win over the Lady Troopers – their first in the tournament – at the Philsports Arena.
Mendrez, a product of UE, said that she worked on her confidence heading into the conference. Mendrez also thanked PLDT head coach Rald Ricafort for giving her the chance to prove her worth and redeem herself after getting buried in the team’s bench in the previous year.
“Confidence lang talaga yung kinuha ko this year,” said Mendrez after the win.
“Super tiwala. As in hinahayaan niya lang talaga kami kung ano yung laro namin, parang siya na lang yung tutulong sa strategy pero yung pangsarili mo ikaw na yun. Parang guide na lang talaga yung mga coaches namin,” added Mendrez, who was also handled by Ricafort and Arnold Laniog in Petro Gazz from 2018-21.
Mendrez also said that the team had little to no adjustments with Ricafort.
“Ano po, ‘di naman po parang mahirap na naga-adjust pa kami kasi yung iba naman po, ako, naging coach ko na rin po si coach Rald [Ricafort],” said Mendrez.
“Yung iba ko pong teammates mga na-handle niya rin po so parang ano na lang, pasulpot sulpot na lang, pasok pasok na lang ng konti, konti na lang yung ia-adjust namin.”
Ricafort said that he’s glad to finally see the likes of Mendrez and Jovie Prado step up after suffering a five-set loss to F2 Logistics to open their All-Filipino campaign.
“Previous game, siguro yung counter namin. Yun din kasi yung prinipare ngayong game saka tumatapang na unti-unti yung mga Mean Mendrez, Jovie Prado yung mga out of system na nahirapan kami ng F2.”
