Baron, Macandili bag ASEAN volleyball awards

 

SANTA ROSA, Philippines – Aside from helping the Philippines clinch a bronze medal,  Majoy Baron and Dawn Macandili bagged individual honors in the ASEAN Grand Prix on Sunday, October 6.

Baron emerged anew as the tournament’s Best Blocker, the same award the former La Salle standout won in the first leg in Thailand after leading the blocking catergory.   

Macandili, who had many defensive highlights as she manned the floor defense for the Philippine squad, copped the Best Libero award.

“For me, parang déjà vu,” Baron said. “Nangyari ulit kung ano yung nangyari sa Thailand. Sîyempre, super happy pa rin na narecognize yung effort.”

(It’s ˆlike déjà vu. I’m super happy that they recognized my effort.)

Baron, though, admitted that the lack of preparation and the tight schedule doomed the Philippines’ campaign.

“Parang hindi kami masyado nakafocus as a team… [pero] siyempre we want sa SEA Games, mas committed ang bawat isa, mas kumpleto kami.”

(As a team, we were not that focused… but of course, we want to be more committed in the SEA Games.)

Macandili also believes the team still needs to improve for the regional tournament the country will host late this year.

“Alam ko kasing kaya pa ng team eh, so we’re gonna work on that especially na magttraining camp kami so in the coming SEA Games, gusto namin mas mataas pa yung makamit naming medalya,” said Macandili. 

“Madami pa akong lapses, madami pa akong gustong itulong sa team. Patuloy kong iimprove yung sarili ko and magtatrabaho pa ko sa training para makatulong pa sa team.”

(I know that we can do more, so we’re gonna work on that in our training camp because we want better results, we want a medal in the SEA Games. I still have many lapses, I want to help the team more. I’ll continue to improve and work hard in training to help the team.)

Still, Macandili did not forget to look back as she gave credit to coach Ramil De Jesus, who mentored both Baron and Macandili in La Salle.

“Siyempre, yung foundation nandoon and lahat ng tinuro nila coach Ramil sa amin, inaalala lang namin. And siyempre sa bagong coach namin, inaabsorb din namin yung [lessons], open kami sa criticisms and sa mga bagong tinuturo ni coach Shaq (delos Santos) sa amin,” said Macandili.

(Of course, we credit coach Ramil for our foundation and everything he taught us. But of course with our new coach, we absorb all his lessons and we’re open to criticisms, and the new things that coach Shaq is teaching us.) 

Delos Santos also feels proud of his wards achievements.

“Siyempre, sobrang happy kami kasi nagkaroon ng bunga yung paghihirap namin and mas magiging inspired kami… nakikita namin naggogrow yung players namin,” he said.

( I’m very happy because we see the results of our hard work and we’re more inspired because we see our players grow.)

 

ASEAN Grand Prix second leg awardees:

Pleumjit Thinkaow (THA) – Most Valuable Player

Pimpichaya Kokram (THA) – Best Spiker

Majoy Baron (PHI) – Best Blocker

Tri Retno Mutiara Lutfi (INA) – Best Setter

Ratri Wulandari (INA) – Best Server

Dawn Macandili (PHI) – Best Libero

– Rappler.com