For ceaselessly goading her teammates to go for the kill and for her fierce, in-your-face play at crunchtime, Petron’s opposite spiker Aby Maraño bagged the Spurway Finals MVP plum in the recent Philippine Superliga All Filipino Conference.
Maraño scored 18 points, including 15 on spikes, to power a Petron side already teeming with top talents to a Game 2 win Thursday and a sweep of its best-of-three title series with Shopinas at Cuneta Astrodome.
But the two-time UAAP MVP’s greatest contribution to Petron’s cause was her stout defense. Maraño helped foil the offensive patterns of Shopinas coach Ramil de Jesus, having played under him at La Salle.
“I gave my team some pointers on the set plays and defensive patterns of coach Ramil,” said Maraño. “The strength of coach Ramil’s (de Jesus) team is in blocking and service. That’s why we strengthened our defense and improved our service receptions.”
The 22-year-old Maraño was selected for the plum by the PSL press corps.
But while she was over the moon for winning her first PSL title, Maraño felt for her La Salle coach and teammates at Shopinas.
“They had limited time to train and yet they still made it all the way to the finals,” she said. “I’m so happy for them.”