IT’S been a long time coming but Julia Coronel isn’t letting her last chance as La Salle’s first-choice setter-captain slip away.
If the inherent pressure of donning the green-and-white under the tutelage of multi-titled mentor Ramil de Jesus wasn’t enough, taking on lead playmaker duties while serving as the captain of the Taft ship adds a whole new layer to Coronel’s load in her UAAP swan song.
In her last four playing years before Season 86, championships may have gone La Salle’s way but Coronel did admit how she longed for a shot to lead from the front after playing second fiddle to the likes of now-pro setters Mars Alba and Mich Cobb.
READ: La Salle rips FEU, extends UAAP winning streak to five
Now with the captain’s armband on her sleeves and as the ‘number one setter,’ it’s now or never for Coronel — and she knows it.
“Ang pinaghuhugutan ko [ng lakas] is yung pinagdaanan ko. I was in the team, this is my fifth playing year now and throughout that whole time, second setter lang ako, backup setter lang ako,” said Coronel.
“Sinasabi rin sakin ni coach (Ramil de Jesus) na ngayon, ito na yun, ito na ‘yung opportunity ko, so it’s either I grab it, or wala, pakawalan ko na.”
“Matagal ko na rin ‘tong hinintay kaya ‘yun ‘yung nagiging hugot ko every time I’m on the court, kahit mahirap nga pa-minsan ‘yung pinagdaanan ko,” she added.
Iron sharpens iron
Through years and seasons past, de Jesus has been known to use a ‘tough love’ approach to some of his Lady Spikers to unleash the inner ‘Animo’ within.
Coronel, as setter and captain, was no exception — and she fully embraced every bit of hearing words of criticism from the La Salle coaches rather than hearing nothing from them at all.
“Regarding tough love, I think kahit papaano, nasanay na rin ako and I think it’s good for all of us. The more na tough sila sa’min, the more na ibig sabihin may gusto pa silang makita from us, the more na pinu-push pa nila kami. Kaya kami, as players, we just absorb na lang everything kasi the more na pinagsasabihan nila kami, the more na they want to see us improve.”
Coronel added: “‘Pag tumahimik na yung mga coaches, ibig sabihin wala ka nang pag-asa o mataas na ‘yung nilalaro mo. So dahil may naririnig pa kami kahit papaano, that means na meron pang kulang sa amin and lahat kami aware naman doon, and we just embrace the challenge na binibigay ng mga coaches.”
And in terms of growing day-by-day in her bid to reach her best form as consistently as possible, she’s already taken huge strides and doesn’t plan to hit the brakes anytime soon.
“I would say na hindi pa po ako satisfied. This is a good start, especially for me and the team coming to the second round, pero ayoko ko pong huminto sa performance ko today. Siyempre marami pa rin po ako naging lapses and I’m aware of that. So gusto ko na the more na patuloy yung season na to, the more I get to adjust pa rin,” Coronel said.
La Salle deputy coach Noel Orcullo added: “‘Yung growth naman niya, andiyan na. Tuluy-tuloy naman ‘yung nagiging performance niya na maganda. Hopefully, ma-sustain. Nakikita naman namin na every training, every game, she keeps on improving. Hopefully, ma-sustain hanggang matapos yung tournament at madagdagan pa at tumaas pa ‘yung magandang performance.”
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