Last Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre, Abigail Maraño was back in action in the 2016 Philippine Superliga Invitational Cup playing for her new team, the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers.
As she had done countless times, the 5-foot-9 middle blocker was her usual animated self in F2’s domination 25-23, 25-10, 25-4 win over the New San Jose Builders. Maraño ended the match with 7 points and 9 digs.
“Happy kasi nag-enjoy kami. Nakita niyo naman na lahat ng puntos nagrerejoice ang bawat isa,” Maraño told Tiebreaker Times. “Teamwork [din] talaga dahil lahat talaga nagcocontribute.”
Despite playing for a new team, Maraño shared that her energy makes everyone play as one cohesive unit. Usually known for her animated reactions every time her team scores a point, Maraño’s energy burst greatly rubbed off on her team mates which made them play intensely.
Taking a further look at the stats, it was also a balanced team effort for F2 as Danika Gendrauli had 10 points, Pau Soriano and Lilet Mabbayad having 8, and Cha Cruz scoring 7.
“Energy ko? Alam niyo naman na nakakahawa talaga ‘yung energy ko. Medyo relaxed pa ako [during the game] kasi parang maganda naman ang kinikilos ng team,” Maraño added. “Pero siguro kung mas intense ang laro, mas intense din ako and I expect din naman na ganoon din mga team mates ko. Kapag nakita nila akong intense, [nagiging] intense sila.”
Moreover, Maraño indicated that her transition in playing for a new team is made easier with her familiarity with former college teammate Cha Cruz. As evidenced by their on-court performance, it will only get better as they play further into the season.
“Kilala talaga namin ang bawat isa so ‘yung ugali namin na kung paano kami lumaki sa La Salle, nandoon pa rin kung saan kami naglalaro dito,” she quipped.
Now, Maraño and F2 Logistics will have a big test ahead of them as they are set to face the RC Cola Philippine Army Lady Troopers, also one of her former club teams, this coming Saturday, 1:00 pm, at the Malolos Convention Center in Bulacan.
“Excited ako. Excited talaga ako. Sobrang excited kasi alam mo ‘yun? Ang mga teammates mo na parati mong kasama sa biruan [pero] ngayon sa court, kalaban mo na. It’s a different thing naman, something new for me.”
“Given that na malalim ang samahan namin ng Army tapos ngayon sila [magiging] kalaban ko, parang naeexcite ako kung anong mga reaksyon ang magaganap between me and Ate Rachel [Daquis], Ate Jovs [Gonzaga] and all other players.”
