There are few locals better than Pocari Sweat’s Myla Pablo in the open hitter position. The former National University Lady Bulldog had been key to Pocari Sweat’s breakthrough championship in the 2016 Shakey’s V-League Open Conference, averaging nearly 20 points per match.
Over her years playing club volleyball, Pablo has developed an plethora of ways to score. But in the import-laden Reinforced Conference, Pablo’s scoring load dwindled as the Lady Warriors tapped two American imports.
Instead of taking a step back, Pablo has been working on finding other ways to be effective.
“Magaling talaga pumuntos ‘yung mga imports namin – maganda talaga ‘yung pursyento nila. Kaya sinasabi ko lang sa sarili ko na kailangan ko tibayan ‘yung ibang skills ko – sa receive, depensa, blockings. May gameplan lagi kami for each team na talagang ‘yun ‘yubg sinusubakan ko sundan,” Pablo said.
So far, the Lady Warriors have thrived, winning six straight matches en route to the top seed in the SVL semis.
“Makikita mo talaga sa team namin na, habang tumatagal ‘yung season, nagkakaroon talaga nang jelling. Kailangan pa namin ma-improve pa rin ‘yun para magtuloy-tuloy kami sa championship,” said the 23-year-old.
Pocari take on the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses, whom they had taken care of to end the elimination round, in a best-of-three for a Finals seat, with Game One happening on Saturday at the PhilSports Arena.
In the Open Conference, the Lady Warriors had built the image of “comeback queens”, needing to win numerous do-or-die matches to get the crown.
This time around, Pablo is looking forward to working on a smoother path to the Finals.
“Siyempre, mas marami ka talagang matutunan about sa sarili mo at sa team mo kapag natatalo. Pero, maraming beses na ‘rin kami natalo before kaya sa tingin ko natuto na kami,” the 2016 Open Conference Finals MVP remarked.
“Lalaban at lalaban ‘yang UST kaya hindi kami pwedeng makapante kahit ano pa ang score.”
