BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — Jonah Sabete is finally back to her old, lethal form for Sta. Lucia after struggling in the initial part of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference.
On Sunday evening, Sabete dropped 15 points off 11 attacks, two blocks, and two aces. She led Sta. Lucia’s third-straight win against BaliPure, 25-15, 25-12, 25-14, at the PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center.
And her familiarity with former Petro Gazz teammates and now Lady Realtors starters Djanel Cheng and Jovie Prado definitely helped her return to her hard-hitting ways.
“Sobrang laking factor talaga na magkasama kami ni [Djanel] Cheng saka ni Jovie [Prado]. Kasi almost two years din kaming nagkasama sa previous team namin,” shared Sabete, who scored 18 markers in their previous win against Chery Tiggo.
“Kasi talagang familiarized na talaga namin kung ano ‘yung paguugali ng isa’t isa, kung paano kami maglaro. Ganun si Cheng eh, ‘yung tiwala niya rin talaga sa bawat isa sa amin.
“Masaya kaming lahat kasi nakukuha na namin ‘yung jelling ng team namin and ‘yung perfect na magkakasama sa loob and ‘yung position namin. And mas lalo na ‘yung atake namin talaga, kasi nung una, struggle talaga kami eh. Kung ano pa ‘yung dapat naming gawin, ‘yung hinahanap namin, which is nakita naman na namin sa bawat training namin,” added the 27-year-old product of Bulacan State University.
Sabete, Prado, Cheng, and even Kai Baloaloa played crucial roles in the Petro Gazz squad that won the 2019 PVL Reinforced Conference championship.
Now playing under a different squad, Sabete hopes to recreate the magic that they did in their previous team with Sta. Lucia.
Interestingly, the Lady Realtors — who hold a 4-3 standing at the fifth spot — will have to go through the Angels in their last two games of the eliminations in order to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
“Hindi kami puwedeng magpabaya. As in pukpukan na talaga dapat, which is sa training ganun din naman ‘yung ginagawa namin, lalo na sa mga coaches at teammates namin.”
