With the departure of sisters EJ and Eya Laure, a large piece of Chery Tiggo has also left. But that just means there are spots that need to be filled.
And it’s up to the rest of the crossovers to do just that.
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“We, the remaining players on the team, had an open conversation that we will be a super team since there is no superstar in this team,” Cess Robles told the Inquirer in Filipino after leading the Crossovers to a 26-24 , 25-15, 25-18 victory over winless Nxled in the PVL All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday.
One of the talents up to the challenge is Robles, a power hitter in her own right from National University who is slowly finding her place under new head coach Norman Miguel, who was also her college mentor.
“At first we cried because we didn’t want them to leave because we had a bond,” Robles said after scoring a game-high 15 points against the Chameleons, all but one from offense. “(But we agreed that) we are still one whole – if we can’t make one or two (stars) soar, let’s soar all of them.”
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Complicated
When her contract expired, EJ Nxled took over and although she was in the Chameleons’ matchup against her former team, the older Laure still hasn’t played and has yet to make her debut for her new team.
“I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and have a new experience because I’ve been with Chery for so long,” EJ told reporters in a separate interview.
But talking about Eya is much more complicated and even team manager Aaron Velez remained silent on the subject, previously saying: “Our status with Eya Laure is still under negotiation. Hopefully we can actually resolve this amicably.”
There are talks that the University of Santo Tomas’ contract contains a non-compete clause and disagreements over the financial side of things, particularly given their absence from the last Reinforced Conference due to national team duties. Things still need to be sorted out as Eya remains without a new team.
The remaining cogs are a mix of veterans like captain Aby Maraño and Ara Galang and young guys like Robles, Rhose Dapol, Seth Rodriguez, Pauline Gaston, Shaya Adorador and setters Jasmine Nabor, Joyme Cagande and Alina Bicar, as well as libero Jen Nierva.
“These are the roles of the Laure sisters that we are trying to fill. But for me there is no pressure. I just have to do my job and do what the coaches ask of me. It’s my job, so I have to double the time (my efforts) because let’s say I’m the new cog on the court,” Robles said.
Robles has been a consistent performer so far, scoring 12 points in each of Chery Tiggo’s marathon opening win over Capital1 and a four-set loss to Cignal.
Robles said the relationship between the crossovers is good and that there is a mutual respect between the veterans and young people like her.
“Tyang (Aby) reminds us that she is open to our suggestions and (we can say) whatever we want to say to the team and the seniors,” Robles said. “And that’s the good thing about the team, because even when you’re young you can be open about your tasks, so we can solve our problems immediately and end up doing things that we should do better.”