Elite bloodline doesn’t faze Petro Gazz standouts

Angels skipper Stephanie Mercado (No. 4) says having famous relatives should be an inspiration.

Marites Pablo and Cienne Cruz are adept at dealing with the fact that they have popular and accomplished sisters in volleyball. It comes with the territory, the two spikers of Petro Gazz say.

Pablo is the younger sister of Myla Pablo, the former National U star in the UAAP who also won a conference MVP trophy in the PVL. Cruz, on the other hand, is the younger sister of former La Salle standout and ex-UAAP Finals MVP Cha Cruz.

But in case the two standouts need advice on how to handle being measured up against their celebrated siblings, they need not look far. Their teammate, Petro Gazz star Stephanie Mercado, has dealt with that type of scrutiny before.

“There was a time when people would ask me about my mom and compare me to her a lot,” said Mercado, the daughter of Asian track legend and Filipino sports icon Lydia De Vega-Mercado.

But the young former La Salle anchor has learned to deal with the comparisons after all these years, mostly because mom Lydia made it easier by not putting additional pressure on her.

Her advice?

“I think for us who have well-known family members in sports, we should make them an inspiration instead of thinking of all their achievements and pressuring ourselves to match those achievements or be better than them,” Mercado said.

The Angels got off to a good start in the Open Conference last Saturday when they hammered out an opening-day 25-22, 25-14, 26-24 victory Saturday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Mercado led the way with 14 points, 11 of which came off attacks and the other three on blocks.

Mercado, Pablo and Cruz were recent guests at Sports IQ, the Inquirer’s live multiplatform sports talk show.

As Cruz hopes to assert herself more and Pablo feels her way through the team, both feel that having a more famous sibling can be an advantage.

“Ditse (Cha) inspires us inside and outside the court,” said Cruz, whose twin sister Camille, another former La Salle standout, is the team manager of Petro Gazz. “She keeps telling us to ignore (negative) things people say. She said the comparisons will always be there but if we will just be ourselves, we can get even better.”

Pablo, too, gets a lot of support from her older sister “in everything I do.”

And when she broke the news that she was joining the PVL, Myla told her: “Do well, because we will play against each other.”

Their sisters’ attitude toward their careers has lessened the pressure, indeed, and instead of being awed, there is a sense of gratitude and respect for what their siblings have already achieved.

“I keep telling her, this one’s for you,” said Pablo.

“It makes me proud to watch Cha make a name for herself and that motivates me to make a name for myself too.”