IT hasn't been all smooth-sailing straight away for Ivy Lacsina in terms of coping with the changes attached to her high-profile move to the Nxled Chameleons in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).
The former F2 Logistics ace spiker faced an early roadblock even before her Nxled career began — a right knee sprain suffered during a preseason training session which delayed her Chameleons debut in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
READ: Ivy Lacsina leads from the front as Nxled picks up first PVL win
Coming off her best performance for Nxled, which happened to be the club's first win of the season where she logged 17 points and 11 digs over Galeries Tower, Lacsina revealed how she was regularly caught in the midst of back-and-forth bickering and disagreements with setters Kamille Cal and Maji Mangulabnan as they looked to fine-tune the team's spiker-to-setter connections.
This comes even despite being champion teammates with Cal in National University's historic 16-game sweep of the UAAP Season 84 women's volleyball tournament.
"Actually, nag-away na din po kami. Sobrang daming times na nag-away kami. Pero ayun nga, hindi kasi pwedeng sila lang mag-aadjust sa akin. So itong buong week na 'to, talagang sinabi ko 'Hindi, dapat ako rin mag-aadjust. Ako na mag-aadjust,'" said Lacsina.
And although Nxled's breakthrough straight-sets win saw lead playmaker Cal convert eight excellent sets and two more from Mangulabnan, Lacsina isn't getting too caught up on the team's steady signs of growth just yet.
"Mas better siya (spiker-to-setter connection) ngayon pero hindi pa po siya hundred percent. Siyempre, hindi naman po kami pwede tumigil na ito na lang po ('yung level ng laro namin) kasi marami pa po kaming makakalaban na malalakas din po," Lacsina said.
Lacsina at ease with Nxled's pressure-less approach
Eager as she may be to deliver her A-game for the Chameleons, Lacsina underscored how Nxled head coach Taka Minowa wants her growth with the squad to be as organic as can be rather than being pressured to perform at her best.
"Wala pong binibigay na pressure sa'kin. Sabi lang po nila sa'kin is maglaro lang ako kung ano 'yung kaya ko and kung may masakit, 'wag kong ipilit. Kahit si Coach Taka (Minowa), nagagalit na po sa'kin kapag pinipilit ko po."
Lacsina added: "Lahat naman 'to, hindi ko po siya basta-basta magagawa kung ako lang po mag-isa kaya kailangan ko din po 'yung team ko na nagtutulungan kami para makapag-adjust sa game at maging better pa po every game."
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