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Tiebreaker Times

Mela Tunay shares thoughts on injury, supporting UST from the sidelines


Carmela Tunay finally made her presence known for the first time since suffering an injury to her nose. The open spiker was a constant voice in the UST Growling Tigresses’ thrilling 5-set victory over the Arellano Lady Chiefs, cheering her team on and giving them encouragement and advice.

In an interview with Tiebreaker Times, a light hearted Tunay joked that her throat was aching from all the screaming she did during the game. Unable to contribute inside the court, she did her best to do whatever she could from the sidelines for her teammates.

“Nagpapatulong yung libero namin na mag count ako for her,”  Said Tunay. “Kung ano yung matutulong ko sa sideline, ginagawa ko talaga for them. Ina-acknowledge naman nila na ‘ate naririnig kita, nakakatulong’. Magaan sa akin na kahit hindi ako nakalaro, hindi ako naka-contribute ng points, napagaan ko yung loob ng teammates ko.”

Tunay also mentioned how different it feels, watching her team play and being unable to get inside the court and help them.

“Sobrang unfamiliar, kasi nanonood lang ako. Mas Nakakakaba,” shared Tunay.

Thankfully for the Thomasian, and her throat, her efforts were not in vain. Behind the stellar performances of EJ Laure (23 points) and Pam Lastimosa (18 points), as well as a little bit of cheering from Tunay, UST squeaked past their opponents to secure their first win in the 2nd round of the Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference.

Talking about her injury, Tunay shared that she tried to sneak in a little ball practice during the week, but stopped after a while as her nose started bleeding.

“Nung Thursday nag bleed siya nung nag try ako mag-palo sa gilid. Kaya binigyan ako ng 2 weeks nang walang exercise.”

While suffering a small set-back, Tunay claimed that she was given the go signal to start some light workout. Of course, she can’t push herself, as she wants to fully recover before getting back into the court.

“Actually tomorrow I’ll start doing light workout. I was really instructed not to move much because it still bleeds. For this week light workout, pero wala pang bola. Maximize ko muna yung pahinga as much as I can para maka-fully recover ako.”

If things go well, Tunay hopes to be able to practice with the ball soon. It will all depend on how well she is able to recover after this week.

“Siguro this week kung maging ok yung status ko after mag work-out, mag-konting bola ako. Pero di pa rin maghahampasan kasi delikado pa rin.”

If things go according to plan, Tunay hopes to be back in uniform before the end of the tournament.

“(Hopefully) NU game yung aabutan ko if ever. Baka umabot sa UP, pero I doubt it kasi mags-start pa lang ako mag training ulit.”

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