Should they figure it out, a championship might be in the offing.
Kath Arado of the PLDT High Speed Hitters re-established her reputation as one of the country’s top floor defenders after winning her second straight Best Libero award in the PVL. She received the honor after her stellar campaign in the Invitational Conference, which saw PLDT make the semifinal round before ultimately finishing at fifth place. Arado has now won the individual accolade a total of three times.
Speaking to One Sports’ The Game on Monday, the 25-year-old defensive specialist described in detail how she’s able to sustain her high level of play for the High Speed Hitters.
“Unang-una, ‘yung kumpiyansa na binibigay ng mga coaches sa akin. Lalong-lalo na ‘yung mga kasama ko,” Arado said.
“’Yung binibigay nilang kumpiyansa sa’kin na wala na kong iintindihin kung hindi maglaro sa sarili ko, maglaro nang naaayon sa game plan namin. Gano’n ‘yung kompiyansa ko going into this conference na ang laki ng tiwala na binibigay talaga ng team sa’kin,” she added.
Arado clearly attributes a large part of her consistency to the positive reinforcement provided to her by the entire team. Ironically, PLDT, as a whole, still encounters self-inflicted problems such as lack of confidence. According to the decorated libero, it is one of the main reasons why the team has been falling short of finishing at the podium.
“‘Yun nga ‘yung sinasabi sa’min nila Coach Rald [Ricafort] na kailangan namin pagkatiwalaan ‘yung sarili namin na kaya namin,” Arado explained.
“Siguro kinakapos kami sa mental preparation. Medyo may duda pa sa’min. Hindi sa labas nanggagaling kundi sa sarili namin mismo. ‘Yung duda kailangan talagang tanggalin namin para bago pa lang kami pumasok sa court, alam na namin na mananalo kami,” she elaborated.
PLDT has been a fourth-placer at best in the PVL. The good thing is the team has identified the problem. Once they solve it, the High Speed Hitters might just come up with their long-awaited breakthrough conference, especially when ace Jovy Prado recovers from injury and re-joins the team
(GM)