DASMARIÑAS — Mars Alba’s high-profile transfer from Choco Mucho to Akari three months ago finally gave the reigning PVL Reinforced Conference runners-up the steady playmaking asset it has long sought.
With 21 excellent sets in a huge five-set win over Creamline in her Akari debut, the 26-year-old La Salle-bred setter paved the way for the team’s first triumph in three years over their championship tormentor in last year’s import-laden play.
READ: Akari beats Creamline after five-set thriller in Dasmarinas
Anchoring such a feat in a breakthrough year that also saw her fly the flag again with Alas Pilipinas won’t even be possible if she didn’t keep faith when UAAP champion mentor Ramil de Jesus asked her to put her days as a spiker behind for good.
Heeding that call roughly six years ago enabled one of the league’s fastest-rising stars to add feathers to her cap she wouldn’t have even imagined.
“Malayo na, pero malayo pa. Grateful ako sa mga naging coaches ko especially coach Ramil [de Jesus] kasi siya talaga ‘yung nag-convert sa’kin from spiker to setter,” Alba shared with SPIN.ph.
“Hindi ko inaakala na ‘yung career ko as a setter, aabot kung saan ako ngayon.”
The drive to thrive further
Now tasked to further push Alba’s growth is RDJ’s fellow Far Eastern University icon and one of the country’s most esteemed setters in Tina Salak.
Since her conversion into a setter, Alba already saw Salak from afar not only as a playmaking figure to emulate but also as a career inspiration to aspire for.
The goal for Alba isn’t to be the ‘next Tina Salak’ but rather to break the ceiling in her craft under the one and only Tina Salak.
“Malayo, hindi kami magkapareho. Si coach [Tina], marami na siyang narating, marami na siyang na-prove at marami na siyang na-inspire na mga setters din during her time,” the former UAAP Finals MVP said.
“Isa ako sa mga nai-inspire and namo-motivate lalo na’t coach ko siya and marami akong natututunan sa kanya firsthand. Sobrang excited lang ako sa mga magiging performances ko pa sa mga susunod na games.”
And if there’s one thing Alba has learned from RDJ to Salak and all her mentors in between, it’s that the role of a setter goes beyond passing the ball upward but more towards driving a team forward.
“As a setter, para kaming driver ng sasakyan eh. Kami ‘yung magpapagalaw sa lahat,” Alba said. “Mahirap siya na role pero kailangan lang talaga ng repetitions para ma-perfect or at least magawa nang best ‘yung ginagalaw mo as a setter.”
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