Balanced team effort filling the gap left by Dindin Manabat at Chery Tiggo
Chery Tiggo’s Shaya Adorador. –PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — In Chery Tiggo’s first game without Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Shaya Adorador was among those who stepped up to deliver the Crossovers a convincing first win in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
Adorador made a rousing season debut with a game-high 16 points and an impressive floor defense with 11 digs and five excellent receptions as Chery Tiggo took down Reinforced Conference finalist Cignal, 27-25, 25-19, 25-22 on Tuesday at Philsports Arena.
Article continues after this advertisementThe University of the East standout admitted it’s hard to replace a player like Manabat, who has been part of the franchise for six years, but it’s all about working together as a team.
“Ate Dindin is irreplaceable. But whoever is left on our team, we have to work together,” said Adorador in Filipino. “Ate Dindin had a big part [in building this team] as an on-court leader and as an ate. But we have to embrace the line-up that we have now and move on.”
Despite Adorador’s stellar game, the two-way outside hitter deflected the credit to her teammates led by skipper Mylene Paat, EJ Laure, setter Alina Bicar, and libero Buding Duremdes.
Article continues after this advertisement“We just followed our game strategy like Buding, she did her part. Our setters also delivered good plays for us, spikers, and even the middle blockers. It was a good combination of contributions for our team that’s why we got this win,” Adorador said.
“Each one of us is doing our part in the training. We’re really looking at the things that we can improve and our coaches are giving us the right offensive and defensive patterns. We’ll keep playing as one, that’s our goal. We’ll take it one game at a time.”
Chery Tiggo eyes its second win against Army-Black Mamba on Saturday at the same venue in Pasig City.
“We will try our best to sustain our fine play. And just enjoy the game and celebrate every point,” Adorador said.
