JULIA Coronel had to play second fiddle in all but her final year with the De La Salle Lady Spikers.
But 2024 changed everything.
READ: Julia Coronel at a loss as Highrisers collapse late once more
While her UAAP swan song ended with the Taft powerhouse missing out on the UAAP women's volleyball finals, she earned two golden opportunities just months after the end of her college career.
The 23-year-old setter received her first national team call-up and came under the wing of Alas Pilipinas captain Jia de Guzman just before being drafted third overall by Galeries Tower, paving her way to the pros in the PVL.
Jia’s game-changing advice for Juju
Above all, two specific attributes preached by her namesake, who also happens to be one of her all-time playmaking heroes, proved a game-changer for Coronel.
You’d even see it on her Instagram bio, showing just how close Jia’s advice hit home for Coronel.
“This is my IG caption. I remember it was ate Jia who told me this. It's effort and attitude,” Coronel shared with SPIN.ph.
“That has been my mantra and it’s something that I always go back to, even if I'm faced with a lot of challenges or difficult situations.
"I just keep going back to the effort and the good attitude that I put into what I do.”
A year of change, for best
Back in college, playing volleyball was a commitment, a passion, and a craft.
All of those things still stand today for Coronel. But in the pros, playing volleyball has now become her job.
It then requires a whole new level of commitment while retaining the passion to be even sharper in her craft.
“I’m here [in the PVL] now, and I'm really grateful to be where I'm at right now. I just keep telling myself that I'm gonna keep working because this is my job now, and so I have to love it, I have to embrace it.
“Ngayon, continuous self-improvement lang talaga ‘yung goal ko for myself.”
If there’s one thing about her that Alas Pilipinas and the early days of her PVL career changed for the better, it’s that Coronel believes in herself more than she ever did before in the face of scrutiny and doubt.
“It definitely gave me more confidence that I could actually be playing at that level andd kaya kong makipagsabayan. But of course, I'm not gonna stop there.
“For next year, I wouldn't know if I'm still assured a slot in the [national] team, so talagang paghihirapan ko pa rin ‘yun.”
“Pinag-pray ko rin ‘to talaga. Dahil ‘yun ang binibigay sa’kin ni Lord, I just take it as a challenge and I just embrace it wholeheartedly. Even if it's a bit too fast, it's a bit intimidating at times, pero I'm glad with where I'm at right now.”
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