Mylene Paat is glad to finally team up with her ‘soul sister’ Aby Marano.
Maraño, who is close friends with Paat, moved to the Crossovers last month after her original squad F2 Logistics decided to disband their roster in the Premier Volleyball League, shifting their focus to the grassroots level.
The former PVL MVP said that Maraño’s positive energy brings great impact to the team, lifting everyone’s spirits and helping form a supportive atmosphere both on and off the court.
“Actually, sobrang laking bagay nun kasi nga parang ‘sisters not in blood’ pero ‘sisters in soul’ kami especially pag magkasama kami sa training, sa last yung PNVF (Champions League) na games namin,” said Paat.
“Parang mas nagiging natural sa amin na mag-enjoy, natural sa amin hindi maramdaman yung pagod pag magkasama kami,” she added.
(C) Joaqui Flores/PVL Images
Their bond also enabled the team to quickly adjust to the presence of both Maraño and Ara Galang, as evidenced by their recent bronze finish in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Champions League last Saturday.
Paat said it also helped that the two former Cargo Movers came from a similar system in F2 Logistics, which fast-tracked their transition to the team.
“Actually, wala naman kaming masyadong ginawang adjustments sa kanilang dalawa kasi ayun nga madali naman silang pakisamahan and of course knowing Ara and Aby sa sistemang pinanggalingan nila eh almost the same lang din naman samin. Mas kami nga yung– I mean, tama ba, sila yung nag-adjust pa sa amin,” said the 29-year-old spiker.
With Maraño and Galang aboard, Paat believes that there are only good things to come for the Crossovers, again, as evidenced by their performance in the PNVF Champions League where they posted a 3-1 standing in the eliminations before salvaging a third-place finish against College of St. Benilde.
“Siguro yun nga din yung magandang panimula din samin yung sa PNVF nga, kaya, kaya rin naman ginawa ng mga coaches yung papalaruin yung first six and second stringers, ganun, para ma-enhance din yung skills namin and of course yung experience namin,” said Paat.
“Ayun kailangan lang talaga namin maging mindful and of course yung kumbaga yung healthy competition na ginagawa for players talaga na kailangan walang maiiwan sa baba, dapat lahat kami ay parehong umaakyat.”
