FOR a team still trying to discover what sustained success looks like, Galeries Tower treated Saturday's preseason opener like it already mattered.
The Highrisers may have opened the PVL on Tour with a non-bearing four-set victory over Farm Fresh at the Batangas City Sports Center, but the significance of the result went well beyond the standings for a franchise that has long searched for consistency.
READ: Galeries Tower opens Lamina era with four-set Farm Fresh rout
Playing with "nothing to lose," Galeries Tower refused to let the burden of accelerating its rebuild get in the way, instead leaning on fearless volleyball to dismantle a Farm Fresh side that reached the PVL All-Filipino Conference semifinals just months ago.
No one embodied that approach better than Erika Deloria as the 24-year-old outside hitter delivered the finest match of her young PVL career, exploding for a triple-double of 24 points, 13 receptions and 10 digs as she spearheaded one of Galeries Tower's most convincing wins in recent memory.
"Sobrang nakakataba lang ng puso kasi siyempre as we all know, 'yung Farm Fresh talaga, one of the contenders din and known as one of the strong teams. Feel namin 'yung lahat ng pinaghirapan namin off-season, nagbunga," said Deloria.
Strong self-introduction
For Deloria, every milestone carries extra meaning.
She entered the pros with little fanfare after starring for Enderun Colleges, a program far from the traditional volleyball powerhouses.
Selected 20th overall in last year's PVL Rookie Draft by now-defunct Chery Tiggo, she wasn't expected to become one of the faces of Galeries Tower's rebuild just two years since switching teams.
Instead, she has steadily carved out her place, and Saturday's career-best outing served as another reminder that overlooked prospects can blossom when given the opportunity.
"Nag-play lang kami lahat with all our hearts. Wala namang mawawala, nothing to lose. Pinakita lang din namin kung gaano namin kamahal 'yung volleyball," she said.
The victory may not count in the official standings, but for Galeries Tower, it offered something arguably more valuable: belief.
And for Deloria, whose path to the PVL has been anything but conventional, it was another step in proving that neither reputations nor draft positions define how far a player can go.
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