Former captain Aby Maraño retires from national team
Aby Maraño during one of her stints with the national team.
MANILA, Philippines—Aby Maraño is hanging up her Philippine women’s volleyball team jersey after seven years of serving the country.
The former national team captain on Sunday made the announcement on Instagram.
“Nagwakas na ang serbisyo sa bayan, dito naman, dito na lang, dito na palagi. Maraming salamat. Love, Capt. Tyang,” wrote Marano.
(Our service for the country ends here. Thank you. Love, Captain Tyang.)
Marano confirmed that she is already calling it quits to give way to the new generation.
“Retirement means time and space for my other passion. I think oras na para sa new blood,” she told the media. “Nasa NT man o wala, Tyang is Tyang. No one else can take that away from me. I worked so hard to be the Tyang Aby of Philippine Volleyball. Dedicated myself to the sport and my heart for the nation. In all seven years, I surrendered myself to commit to the national team.”
“I’m grateful to all my teammates, coaches and National Sports Associations that I’ve worked with within the years I played for the country, and especially to those who believed and trusted my talent. But I won’t be here forever, so it’s time for new leadership,” she added.
The 30-year-old middle blocker represented the country in the Southeast Asian Games four times starting in Singapore in 2015, Kuala Lumpur in 2017, and was part of the back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the 2019 and 2021 editions.
Marano started serving as a team captain in the women’s volleyball squad’s participation in the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta.
The former La Salle star last donned the national colors in the Vietnam Games last year.
She wasn’t part of the national training pool acquired by Inquirer Sports last January.
The Philippine National Volleyball Federation is set to announce the SEA Games lineup in the coming days for the country’s upcoming stint in Cambodia in May.
Marano recently helped F2 Logistics earn its first-ever semifinal appearance in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
