AFTER nine years with the black-and-gold, is captain Detdet Pepito’s time as a Golden Tigress coming to an end?
“We’ll see po,” University of Santo Tomas' libero-slash-captain said.
READ: La Salle puts UST down for the count, plots grand challenge for National U
Months before a failed finals comeback bid, Pepito’s name was thrown in the mix as a prospective UAAP standout set to take her act to the pros by season’s end.
The two-time UAAP best libero is in her fourth year in UST as an elementary education major.
Shortly after her undergraduate thesis defense and just as the Golden Tigresses’ season came to a screeching halt in the Final Four at La Salle’s hands, Pepito knows where her immediate priorities lie for now.
And it’s not about the decision to play one more year or jump ship to the PVL.
“Of course, acads [muna] po and OJT dahil kailangan naming punan pa ‘yung mga [natitirang] oras,” she said.
Imbued with unending grace
Pepito has a finals appearance in the seniors’ ranks back in Season 86 along with three silvers and two bronzes back in UST High School.
As such, her bemedalled sporting resume in España is one that not a lot of stars in her ranks have had.
Looking ahead on what’s to come, Pepito still has the option of maxing out her five-year college career in a bid to add one last crown jewel for herself and the school — a UAAP women’s volleyball title.
But while she stands at a crossroads and if that Final Four loss to La Salle was to be her last in the UAAP, Pepito believes that her biggest victory with UST wasn’t necessarily one she earned on the taraflex.
More than anything, it’s how those nine years taught her important human values that made her not just a formidable student-athlete but an even better person altogether.
“‘Yung pinaka-[lesson] ko po talaga [sa UST], ‘yung pagiging humble and grateful po sa lahat ng nare-receive namin,” Pepito said.
UST taught her to trust the long and winding process of growth and to never back down in times of doubt.
“Pasaway po talaga kasi ako nung high school. May times na gusto ko na mag-give up pero tinulungan ako [ng UST] na i-overcome ko yung mga ganung sitwasyon,” the Golden Tigresses captain said.
“Dahil dito [sa UST] kaya nandito ako sa kung nasaan ako ngayon.”
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