AT 6-foot-5, Jaja Santiago-Minowa hardly needed an introduction when she stepped onto the court for Creamline, marking her return to Philippine volleyball five years in the making.
But in her PVL Invitational debut, the towering middle blocker made her presence felt without ever making herself bigger than the champions around her.
Santiago-Minowa delivered 19 points on 17 attacks, one block and one ace as the Cool Smashers outlasted Nxled in four sets on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was an imposing debut made even more notable by the company she kept, sharing the court with four other fellow PVL MVPs in Alyssa Valdez, Jema Galanza, Tots Carlos and Michele Gumabao.
READ: Creamline flexes depth, might in four-set drubbing of Nxled
Yet for all the attention her return generated, the 30-year-old middle blocker insisted that Creamline’s star power does not translate into a hierarchy on the court.
“Hindi mo kasi makikita ‘yung MVP sa laro kasi sabi nga ni coach [Sherwin Meneses], naglalaro kami, nagpa-practice kami nang pare-parehas, nagpe-perform kami nang pare-parehas,” Santiago-Minowa said.
That intra-team parity, Santiago-Minowa said, is what made her transition into a team filled with established stars so seamless.
“Ang maganda sa team namin is wala sa aming mataas. Lahat kami equal sa loob ng court. How they handle ‘yung mga new players, mga old players, sobrang bilis maka-adjust kasi walang naiiwan,” she added.
For someone who has spent years playing at the highest levels in Japan and internationally, Santiago-Minowa could have easily arrived in Creamline with a different kind of stature.
Instead, she chose to approach the reunion with the same willingness to learn as everyone else.
“‘Yung pagpasok ko sa Creamline, hindi naging mahirap ‘yun. Ako, as an experienced player din, never ako magmamataas sa kanila kasi I'm still learning also,” she said.
“Sabi ko nga, hindi ako perfect player, hindi ako perfect middle. Kung ano ‘yung ma-input nila sa’kin, ano ‘yung ma-input ko sa kanila, give and take lang.”
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