RIPE FOR THE PICKING
A huge piece of Chery Tiggo also left with the departure of sisters EJ and Eya Laure. But that only means that there are spots that need filling.
And it’s up to the rest of the Crossovers to do just that.
“We, the remaining players in the team, had a heart-to-heart talk that since there is no superstar in this team, we are going to be a super team,” Cess Robles told the Inquirer in Filipino after leading the Crossovers in a 26-24, 25-15, 25-18 sweep of winless Nxled in the PVL All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday.
One of the pieces rising to the occasion is Robles, a powerful hitter in her own right out of National University who is slowly finding her place under new head coach Norman Miguel, who was also her collegiate mentor.
“We cried at first because we didn’t want them to leave because we had a bond,” Robles said after pouring in a game-high 15 points, all but one from attacks, against the Chameleons. “[But we agreed that] we are still a whole—if we can’t [find that] one or two [stars] soaring, let’s all soar.”
Complicated
With her contract expired, EJ took her act to Nxled and although she was in the Chameleons’ matchup against her former team, the older Laure still did not see action and has yet to debut for her new team.
“I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and to have a new experience because I have been with Chery for so long,” EJ told reporters in a separate interview.
But talking about Eya is much more complicated and even team manager Aaron Velez has remained mum on the subject, previously saying, “Our status right now with Eya Laure is still under negotiation. Hopefully we could actually resolve this amicably.”
There are talks about the University of Santo Tomas product’s contract having a noncompete clause and disagreements about the financial side of things, especially in her absence in the previous Reinforced Conference because of national team duties. Things have yet to be ironed out as Eya continues to be without a new team yet.
The remaining cogs are a mix of veterans such as captain Aby Maraño and Ara Galang and young bloods including Robles, Rhose Dapol, Seth Rodriguez, Pauline Gaston, Shaya Adorador and setters Jasmine Nabor, Joyme Cagande and Alina Bicar and libero Jen Nierva.
“That’s the Laure sisters’ [roles we’re trying to fill]. But for me, there is no pressure. I just need to do my job and what the coaches want me to do. It’s my job so I need to double time [on my efforts] because let’s say that I am the new cog on the court,” Robles said.
Robles has so far been consistent in her production, coming up with 12 points apiece against Chery Tiggo’s marathon opening win over Capital1 and a four-set loss to Cignal.
Robles said that the relationship among the Crossovers is good and that there is mutual respect between the veterans and young ones like her.
“Tyang [Aby] reminds us that she is open to our suggestions and [we can say] whatever we want to tell the team and the older ones,” Robles said. “And that’s the good thing about the team because even if you are young you can be open to your ates so we can immediately solve our problems and end up doing things that we should be doing better.”
