A Good Vibe-Filled Episode: The Usapang PSL Episode 2 Recap

As Benny Benitez said it at the end, "Volleyball is relevant and volleyball is here to stay"

For the second episode of Usapang PSL, Benny Benitez invited the legendary Aby Marano to be the co-host alongside Anthony Suntay-  a fixture in the sportscasting industry who actually played two years with the De La Salle University and believe it or not, Suntay's first sports is actually football. Suntay also shared in the early goings of the episode that during the mid-90s Philippine volleyball wasn't as relevant as it is right now and that, the only major sport that was relevant at that time was basketball, particularly the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).  Suntay, who once covered the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) agreed with Benny Benitez in saying that "The UAAP and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) served as the building blocks that created the ecosystem of the volleyball scene that we are seeing right now" 

Last night's episode was about getting to know some of the volleyball stars in the Philippine SuperLiga (PSL) and they didn't disappoint. In fact, it was really filled with good vibes. While Aiko Udras wasn't able to join in the conversation as she was experiencing technical difficulties, Mika Reyes of the Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors, Shola Alvarez of the PLDT Home Fibr Hitters, and Ara Galang of the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers were able to join a laughter-filled discussion.

PSL Chairman Philip Juico was supposed to join in but he was said to be under the weather. Instead, he sent a recorded video of him explaining his beginning in volleyball. Back in the old days, the PSL chairman actually played volleyball for La Salle too and that, things were less complicated back then as it was just about spiking and blocking the ball.

The entire episode centered on the players during the ongoing 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic and how players are doing since the community quarantine began last March. For Marano, it's about helping raise funds for those who are fighting the battle upfront and more importantly, for the workers in the volleyball industry who are directly impacted by the storage of the game. For Reyes who played alongside Marano and Galang for the Ramil de Jesus-coached Lady Spikers in the UAAP,  she is using the time to workout with her siblings. Shola Alvarez, a Most Valuable Player awardee in the NCAA, meanwhile shared that she's been busy with her "Luna's Online Shop" that sells desserts among other items. Galang shared that she's been spending more quality time with her family while continuously working on her strengthening. 

While most of the sports abroad are gradually resuming, Philippine sports, in general, haven't reached a point where it can return. Yet. And with that in mind, Anthony Suntay asked the gorgeous stars on how they feel about being able to rest a relatively long time and the answers were understandably different and yet identical. For Mika Reyes and Ara Galang, it's a combination of it was happy being able to rest at the start of the quarantine but as the quarantine lingered longer, that happiness changed to boredom and at some point, that fear with regards to the damage that is brought about by the pandemic. Shola Alvarez shared that she missed playing volleyball and that is something we can all agree on.

Anthony Suntay also shared that the national sports associations (NSAs) with the PSL being included, have already submitted a recommendation of safety protocols to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases and if the IATF approves the recommendation, sports could return. Gradually. Suntay then proceeded on asking the players how long should they be allowed to train before hitting the actual games. Again, the players' answers were identical. For Mika Reyes, it's three to four weeks just to "feel the court" and more importantly, rebuild the chemistry of the team. Shola Alvarez believes that a  month of training time before the games is already enough. But for Ara Galang, the players should be given a month and two weeks' worth of training time as she pointed out that training alone at home is different compared to training with the team. Galang even briefly suggested that the PSL should put the entire team on a bubble- something that the National Basketball Association (NBA) will attempt next month. Anthony Suntay shared that while the same arrangement has been proposed in the PBA, he concluded that the proposal was shut down by the team owners owing to the expenses of holding all PBA teams in one place.

The discussion turned a bit serious when Anthony Suntay asked the PSL  players the challenges that they faced when they transferred from one team to the other. For Mika Reyes who played for Petron for there years before transferring to the Lady Realtors this year, chemistry is definitely the number one challenge all transferring players face in their new teams. Alvarez chimed in by saying that it goes down to adjusting to the new environment, new coaching staff, and new teammates. 

Not surprisingly, the episode lasted for more than two hours and if Galang and Udras didn't encounter technical difficulties,s it would have been longer. Fortunately, there's always a next time and yes, Usapang PSL will be back for more volleyball fun. 

Screenshot is from the Facebook page of Pinoyliga.com