Akari Chargers’ Bea Bonafe and coach Tin Salak during a PVL on Tour game. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
New Akari coach Tina Salak had long told Bea Bonafe to be herself, to step out of the shadows of any player she was trying to copy, even after a forgettable first stint as a pro with a dynastic club.
Getting her first start in a position Salak converted her to play years before, Bonafe on Tuesday repaid her coach’s trust by leading the Chargers past Petro Gazz, 32-30, 25-22, 25-19, in their KO match for a place in the quarterfinals of the PVL On Tour at PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
“Coach Tina said to grab it, so I did,” Bonafe told the Inquirer, referring to the starting chance she got with top setter Kamille Cal out with a jumper’s knee injury. “It’s just more of, now it’s just self-confidence, like building that up and really helping the team and giving back to the team.”
Bonafe finished with 14 excellent sets, feeding the troika of Ivy Lacsina, Eli Soyud, and Grethcel Soltones as the former middle blocker in high school announced her coming after spending the first part of her pro career at Creamline where she rarely got the chance to play.
Akari Chargers’ Bea Bonafe during a PVL on Tour game. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
“It was a very big leap,” Bonafe said of Salak’s encouragement of becoming a setter after high school at La Salle-Zobel. “After I graduated, coach Tina said to try being a setter. So, ever since, that’s like five years past, I went to Creamline, coach T kept telling me that I can do it.”
The 23-year-old playmaker never gave up on playing her position, even after that so-so stint with the Cool Smashers, until she got her moment and sent Akari to a quarterfinal duel against Cignal on Thursday.
“I used to say she was stuck in someone else’s shadow,” Salak a former national team setter, said in Filipino. “When she came to Akari, I made it a point to help her break out of that. I told her: you have to be yourself. You can’t just imitate who you want to be like. You’ll never find your full potential if you’re just trying to play the role of someone else.
“So I told her to change everything, her ideas, her movements, her techniques,” Salak went on. “All of it, just so we can discover who Bea really is as a player. That was the first thing I told her.”
Bonafe felt like she won a championship after shining in her first start, crediting her breakthrough game to a strong support system from teammates and coaches, including setting mentor Vince Mangulabnan.
“The coaches have been giving me advice, which I just try to apply during games,” she said. “Mentally, the coaches have been telling me that I can do and that really helps.
“Coach Tina is intense in training, but she’s different outside of it,” she went on. “It’s really tough during training, but not just because of her (Salak), (but) the rest of the coaches. They’re also super passionate and push us hard.”
Lacsina delivered 16 points off 12 kills, three blocks, and an ace, crediting their good showing to Bonafe. Soyud drilled 14 kills to finish with 15 points. Soltones had 13 points, while middle blockers Ezra Madrigal and Ced Domingo had nine and seven points, respectively.
Chenie Tagaod also shone as she scored four straight points, highlighted by three consecutive aces to reach match point, 24-19, before Soltones sealed their entry to the quarterfinal.
Petro Gazz, the All-Filipino Conference champion, missed the preseason playoffs, losing four of its six games without Alas Pilipinas players Brooke Van Sickle and MJ Phillips.
The Angels are also in a major period of adjustment after having parted ways with champion coach Koji Tsuzurabara, who is already back home in Japan, in the middle of the On Tour.
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Myla Pablo carried Petro Gazz with 15 points and eight excellent receptions, while Nicole Tiamzon added 12 points. INQ