After battling depression and ‘scam’ offers, Pacres gets her moment in pros

Dimdim Pacres tells her story during the Galeries’ introductory press conference. —GALERIES HANDOUT PHOTO

For at least six hours of volleyball action, six teams will be kicking off their bids in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference. For most of the players who will see action at Smart Araneta Coliseum, it will be just another opening game, another chance to rinse off the jitters and get a good start for the tournament.

Dimdim Pacres isn’t most players.

The veteran opposite spiker who has had moderate success in the sport as a college standout with University of Santo Tomas will be one of the spearheads of a Galeries team that will battle Petro Gazz in the 7 p.m. nightcap of Tuesday’s triple bill.

When she steps into the court, it will be her first game as a professional.

“I’ve waited for this for so long,” an emotional Pacres told reporters during the team’s introductory press conference on Saturday at Okada.

“I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had a lot of expectations and I watched them fail. Like the past two years, for a lot of us here, it felt like we were scammed. It wasn’t easy. We expected that we would get to play again so we went back to working out. Then we ended up working out and asking ourselves what [all that effort] was for.”

“All we got was excuses.”

It seems like a strange fact that the 26-year-old Pacres, a fixture in volleyball tournaments, hasn’t played since the PVL became the first professional league in the country.

But Pacres hasn’t played since 2018, when she suited up for the Fighting Warays back when the PVL still held an amateur status. She’s had offers from companies that sought to join the PVL, among them Peak Form in 2021, but none of those offers translated into actual jobs.

“I went through depression.

I didn’t know what to do and took every job I could. I sold kwek-kwek (a popular street food made of hard-boiled eggs dipped in thick orange batter and deep-fried), shakes and suman (glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk then wrapped in banana leaves before steaming),” she said, adding that she also took a job as a call center agent when tryouts with other teams didn’t result in roster spots.

Another breakdown

That plunged her into another breakdown.

“I wanted to do a social media blackout because I didn’t want to see what was happening in volleyball, because that meant seeing friends who were training and competing while I was [in the sidelines] just making calls.”

Her ordeal has given her a new outlook.

“But I’m thankful for all the challenges I faced because I learned a lot.

I learned to appreciate things and I’m grateful because if I didn’t go through all that, I wouldn’t learn to appreciate the small things.” And when she steps on the court for the Highrisers, she knows to make the most of that opportunity. Pacres wants to repay Galeries coach Lerma Giron, who recruited her, and KungFu Reyes, her college coach who motivated her to keep going

. “I’m thankful that the team and coach Lerma showed their trust. I’m thankful for supporters who kept pushing me and asking me when I am going to play again.

The Lord answered my prayers and I finally have the chance to play as a pro and I’m really happy for that,” she said.

“I don’t want to stop because I know I have a lot to show. I wanted just one conference to see for myself if I still can compete.

This conference will show me if I should quit or continue to push.”

Meanwhile, in other games, Chery Tiggo battles Farm Fresh in the opening game at 3 p.m., followed by the showdown between Akari and F2 Logistics. INQ