WHEN you think of Jovelyn Gonzaga, you think of her running attack.
And as it took exactly 365 days for her PVL return with ZUS Coffee, also embedded within the 33-year-old spiker’s high-profile comeback is a personal milestone: executing her signature move once more.
READ: ZUS not getting carried away with projections amid strong start
Also called the slide, the running attack involves a player moving in a diagonal direction from behind the setter and hopping quickly on just one leg before spiking the ball.
Gonzaga took to social media after their final match of 2024 against Creamline to share her wish to do the slide again one day.
“Quit doing this after I got injured. Hope I can do running attack again anytime soon,” she wrote then.
And last Thursday, 'The Bionic Ilongga' finally uncorked her trademark hit for the first time in eight years in the Thunderbelles' four-set win over Chery Tiggo - and she did it right off the bat in the first set, through captain-setter Cloanne Mondonedo.
“After 2017 nung na-ACL ako, hindi na ako nakakapag-running (attack) until today lang talaga,” she shared with SPIN.ph.
“Dahil kay Cloanne, slowly ko siyang nagagawa at nagawa ko siya kanina. Sobrang happy ako kasi nakaisa ako. Sana, magtuloy-tuloy pa ‘yung running spikes ko.”
While it was a sight to see - and one we'd love to keep seeing - it's also worth keeping in mind why it took Gonzaga this long to even try her signature move.
“Hindi ko siya magawa kasi ang bad leg ko, ‘yung na-ACL na knee ko, is ‘yung right knee,” she said.
“Kung gagawin ko siya, ang full force na gagamitin ko is my right knee, so delikado siya. ‘Yun ‘yung fear ko na gawin ko siya ulit.”
And so, in the end, everything should be in moderation - even the time-tested Gonzaga running attack.
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