P
PurpleFox
Guest
MANILA — She has won best setter plums in the past but for the first time in her 11 years of playing the sport, De La Salle University’s Kim Fajardo notched the Most Valuable Player award in the 2015 Philippine National Games women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
The accolade served as icing on the cake as the Lady Spikers also took home the gold in the annual tournament after sweeping sister school College of Saint Benilde in the finals.
“Hindi pa ako naka-MVP. Never pa. Kaya siyempre masaya kasi first time ko din eh.” said a beaming Fajardo after the awarding ceremonies.
The victory was a welcome development for the Taft squad especially because just a couple of weeks before the tournament, another one of its top spikers, Des Cheng, tore her ACL; the third incident in four months following Ara Galang and Camille Cruz.
Putting it upon herself to make the adjustment as easy for her teammates as possible, Fajardo worked double time on her ball distribution and succeeded with La Salle not even dropping a single set in six games.
“Sa akin kasi diba ang daming nawala sa amin? Kasi diba nung nandiyan pa si Ara, puro Ara. Puro sa kanya ang bola. Puro ganun. So ngayon na wala si Ara, wala si Des at wala si Camille, kailangan ko mag push.” she said on what inspired her to dish an MVP performance.
“‘Yung ball distribution ko ‘yun ang inayos ko. Ang focus ko, paano ko gagawin na makakapuntos silang lahat.” added the playmaker.
Having lost back-to-back seasons in the UAAP to rival Ateneo, Fajardo admitted her own confidence took a blow especially after getting swept in Season 77’s finale.
But off-season tournaments like the PNG, no matter how small in scale, according to the setter, helps her and the team to recover and gain as much experience as possible before heading to another round UAAP action.
“Naunahan kami sa championship doon sa UAAP eh. So nakaka-boost din ng confidence namin na maglaro dahil may napatunayan ulit kami kahit sa mga ganitong liga din.” she told Rivals.
“And mas importante, exposure din sa mga bago kasi kailangan may mag step up at pumalit like sila Eli Soyud and Kim Dy,” she added. “Mas na-expose sila sa loob sa mga ganitong tournaments para pagdating ng UAAP sanay na sila na sila ‘yung first six. Kailangan nila i-angat ‘yung play nila kasi ‘yung pinalitan nila mga star din ng team.”
And with seven months to go before the kick off of Season 78, Fajardo humbly closed by saying there are still too many things to be done before she can say they are ready.
“Marami pa kaming kailangang kaining bigas. Mahaba pa naman ‘yung preparation. Sana, hopefully, magawa namin ‘yung dapat naming gawin.”
The accolade served as icing on the cake as the Lady Spikers also took home the gold in the annual tournament after sweeping sister school College of Saint Benilde in the finals.
“Hindi pa ako naka-MVP. Never pa. Kaya siyempre masaya kasi first time ko din eh.” said a beaming Fajardo after the awarding ceremonies.
The victory was a welcome development for the Taft squad especially because just a couple of weeks before the tournament, another one of its top spikers, Des Cheng, tore her ACL; the third incident in four months following Ara Galang and Camille Cruz.
Putting it upon herself to make the adjustment as easy for her teammates as possible, Fajardo worked double time on her ball distribution and succeeded with La Salle not even dropping a single set in six games.
“Sa akin kasi diba ang daming nawala sa amin? Kasi diba nung nandiyan pa si Ara, puro Ara. Puro sa kanya ang bola. Puro ganun. So ngayon na wala si Ara, wala si Des at wala si Camille, kailangan ko mag push.” she said on what inspired her to dish an MVP performance.
“‘Yung ball distribution ko ‘yun ang inayos ko. Ang focus ko, paano ko gagawin na makakapuntos silang lahat.” added the playmaker.
Having lost back-to-back seasons in the UAAP to rival Ateneo, Fajardo admitted her own confidence took a blow especially after getting swept in Season 77’s finale.
But off-season tournaments like the PNG, no matter how small in scale, according to the setter, helps her and the team to recover and gain as much experience as possible before heading to another round UAAP action.
“Naunahan kami sa championship doon sa UAAP eh. So nakaka-boost din ng confidence namin na maglaro dahil may napatunayan ulit kami kahit sa mga ganitong liga din.” she told Rivals.
“And mas importante, exposure din sa mga bago kasi kailangan may mag step up at pumalit like sila Eli Soyud and Kim Dy,” she added. “Mas na-expose sila sa loob sa mga ganitong tournaments para pagdating ng UAAP sanay na sila na sila ‘yung first six. Kailangan nila i-angat ‘yung play nila kasi ‘yung pinalitan nila mga star din ng team.”
And with seven months to go before the kick off of Season 78, Fajardo humbly closed by saying there are still too many things to be done before she can say they are ready.
“Marami pa kaming kailangang kaining bigas. Mahaba pa naman ‘yung preparation. Sana, hopefully, magawa namin ‘yung dapat naming gawin.”