MANILA, Philippines – As she braces for a hectic national team schedule, Philippine volleyball team captain Aby Maraño draws inspiration from beau Robert Bolick, the San Beda standout who also plays for the national basketball pool. 

Bolick also had the same predicament the past months – he saw action for the 2023 Gilas Cadets while playing for the Red Lions in the 2018 Filoil Flying V preseason tournament. 

“Si Robert kasi everyday may game siya noong Filoil, nagdadalawa siya (minsan), may game siya ng 2 pm, tapos mamaya may 6 pm or 4 pm, magkasunod yung game. Di ko siya nakitaan na ayaw niya ng ganun,” said Maraño of Bolick’s similarly tough schedule.

(Robert has a game everyday in Filoil and sometimes he plays twice a day, he has a game at 2 pm then later a game at 6 pm or 4 pm, back-to-back games. But I never heard him complain.)

According to Maraño – who also plays for club team F2 Logistics in the Philippine Superliga (PSL) –Bolick draws his strength from his love for basketball.

“Tuwang-tuwa pa siya tsaka naglalaro pa rin siya dahil love niya yung sport. Binibigay niya talaga lahat niya, hindi yung nagrereserve kasi may game ka pa ulit mamaya.” 

(He’s even more excited and he plays because he loves the sport. He gives his all, he doesn’t reserve his energy just because there’s another game later.) 

Maraño – who represented her team in the POC Athletes’ Commission Anti-doping seminar on Friday, July 6 – hopes that her teammates can follow the same mindset as Bolick and other Gilas players who juggled two teams.  

“I hope that the players will accept that challenge instead of seeing that as something bad for everyone, and siguro it’s one of the steps na kailangan naming gawin para maging prepared talaga kami para sa Asian Games,” said Maraño. 

(And I guess it’s one of the steps that we really need to do to be really prepared for the Asian Games) 

With the schedule changes, the Philippine women’s volleyball team will be playing 3 games instead of 6 in the 2018 PSL Invitational.  

It’s a positive change for Maraño and the rest of the team as they will find time to recover from the grueling practices with their respective club teams and stay in tiptop shape for the Asiad. 

“Sobrang (helpful na nabawasan yung national team games to 3 sa PSL). Sobrang tight talaga ng game schedule, wala na rin kaming time to recover. Ang magiging problem nun is mabubugbog kami masyado, eh since pinaghahandaan natin yung Asian Games,” added the team captain.  

(It’s really helpful that the national team games were cut down to 3 in the PSL. Our schedules are really tight, we don’t even have time the recover. It will become a problem if we all feel beaten up in the Asian Games) 

The national team will play their first game against the Cocolife Asset Managers on Saturday, July 7, 2 pm at the Filoil Flying V Arena. – Rappler.com