Chery Tiggo’s Mylene Paat reacts during a game against Choco Mucho in the PVL Reinforced Conference. PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — A case of cramps may have limited Mylene Paat from scoring more in the fourth set but her leadership still made a significant impact for Chery Tiggo in fending off Choco Mucho in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference.
Paat cramped up with Chery Tiggo trailing by two, 10-8, in the fourth set but still kept playing.
Her presence fueled her teammates, led by EJ Laure and Cza Carandang, as the Crossovers’ came back from 16-13 down to close out the Flying Titans and notch their fourth straight win.
But her presence fueled her teammates, led by EJ Laure and Cza Carandang, to close out the match with their fourth straight win in as many games.
“Ganoon naman talaga eh, para tayong sundalo. Masasaktan, madadapa, babangon pa rin,” said Paat after he team moved a win away from clinching a semifinals berth.
(That’s part of the game. We’re like soldiers. We will get hurt and fall down but we will still rise.)
“I’m really proud of what my team is achieving right now. I’m thankful because I can see that we really got each other’s back whatever happens,” she added in Filipino.
The opposite spiker still tallied her best game of the conference so far with 25 points off 21 attacks, two blocks, and two aces in a match where she had a moment with Choco Mucho’s Odina Aliyeva.
Paat blocked Aliyeva then celebrated by wagging her finger before flashing a big grin and shaking the Uzbek import’s hand.
“As I always say, when I get a block or a point. So I got the timing to block her and then she was staring at me. She also said something but I didn’t understand because it’s in English,” said Paat in jest, recalling the play that gave Chery Tiggo an 18-14 advantage in the third set.
“So I just told her I’m sorry because it’s normal for me to celebrate a point. We shook our hands after.”
Paat also shared a moment with Akari’s former Olympian player Prisilla Rivera last week. But more than the in-game celebration, she has been proving that she can compete against foreign players, emerging as the tournament’s top local scorer with a total of 79 points off 73 spikes, four blocks, and two aces in four games.
The Philippine team mainstay is currently the league’s top spiker with a 42.44 percent spiking rate and the lone local in the top 5 just behind leader Elena Samoilenko of PLDT, Aliyeva and Rivera.
Despite playing like an MVP, Paat remains hungry to deliver for her team, which seeks to rise after back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the last two conferences.
“We’re thankful but we can’t be overwhelmed by our wins this early. We have a lot of work to do in our remaining games. We need to keep working hard, persevere, and stay passionate,” Paat said.