PVL: Patience pays off for Farm Fresh’s Jolina Dela Cruz in winning return from injury

Good things come to those who wait.

 

For Jolina Dela Cruz, the wait was more than a year, finally making her debut for the Farm Fresh Foxies on Saturday — a full 365 days removed from her ACL surgery last year.

 

Just missing her surgery’s anniversary by a day, Dela Cruz returned to volleyball with a bang, scoring 20 points in the Foxies’ three set win over the Nxled Chameleons in the PVL All-Filipino Conference at the PhilSports Arena.

 

[RELATED: PVL: Foxies give fit-again Dela Cruz, Toring fresh start in winning return from injury vs Nxled]

 

To some, it may seem like Dela Cruz hadn’t missed a day on the taraflex.

 

But for the UAAP champion, who last played during the 2nd All-Filipino Conference back in 2023, it was a long and grueling journey.

 

Fighting back from injury is always a tedious task, but to go through everything that Dela Cruz did — including finding a new team after her previous squad folded — it takes a special kind of patience.

 

Now that she’s back in form, Dela Cruz spoke about how she needed to dig deep to get through what she did.

 

“Sometimes kasi… especially sa talon, like 'yung akala mo okay ka na, malakas na siya. Pero may times talaga na parang babalik. Feeling mo ang hina mo. Duon papasok ang frustration,” Dela Cruz said. 

 

“Pero ayun nga, at the end of the day, gusto ko na bumalik. Kailangan ma-overcome mo 'to. Kailangan malampasan mo 'to.”

 

Dela Cruz was inserted into the starting lineup immediately and did not rest in the whole three-set affair. It may have been a tall task to plunge right back into the fold, but the former La Salle standout simply wanted repay the trust of her coaches.

 

Eager to make up for lost time, Dela Cruz played like she never left.

 

“Binigyan ko lang din ng justice kung ano yung binigay saking trabaho ni Coach [Benson Boc]Boc. So, fortunately, 'yun nga, nagawa ko naman kahit papano. Pero I know na kulang pa siya and may gusto pa akong ma-achieve,” she said.

 

@onesportsphl 'HINDI NAMIN INIIWANAN YUNG ISA'T ISA.' 🧡 Jolina Dela Cruz relishes the opportunity to be back as a starter, this time with the Farm Fresh Foxies. She is also grateful to have had Lorene Toring, who was also nursing an injury, by her side throughout her recovery journey. | via Luisa Morales/One Sports #OSOnTheSpot #PVL2025 #TheHeartofVolleyball #OneSports #SportsonTiktok ? original sound - OneSportsPHL

 

As for how she’s measuring herself for the rest of the tournament, Dela Cruz isn’t one to pressure herself.

 

Rather, she wants to find ways to contribute to her team.

 

“Go with the flow lang ako. Wala ako masyadong expectations kasi nga, kapag pinressure ko 'yung sarili ko, 'di ako magpe-perform. So ayun nga, sabi ko thank you coach Boc kasi nga, binigyan niya ako ng pagkakataon na maipakita kung ano yung pwede ko pang mapakita and ayun,” she said. 

 

“Less expectation para di rin ako ma-disappoint sa sarili ko and laro lang ako. Kung ano lang pwede ko macontribute sa team,” she added.

 

In the win over Nxled, Dela Cruz also had five excellent digs and five excellent receptions.

 

She and the Foxies return to action next Saturday, January 25, against the Chery Tiggo Crossovers.