Myla Pablo continues to reintroduce herself as one of the PVL’s most potent hitters with the Petro Gazz Angels.
Myla Pablo’s return to vintage form has become a crucial part of the Petro Gazz Angels’ redemption tour in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
It’s been a welcome resurgence for Pablo, who’s filling in for the injured Jonah Sabete in the starting six. In doing so, she has emerged as the Angels’ second-leading scorer, averaging 12.87 points across eight games played in the All-Filipino Conference.
“Well, siguro ginawa ko lang din ‘yung trabaho ko as a player, kumbaga we know naman si Jonah [Sabete], na-injure siya so kailangan lang mag-step up ako bilang open spiker,” Pablo said following her conference-high 22 points against the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles last Tuesday.
“And syempre, for the trust ni Coach Koji [Tsuzurabara] din talaga, kailangan talaga pag binigyan ka ng trust ni coach, kailangan din talaga is tanggapin mo ‘yung trabaho mo sa loob ng court. And ‘yun lang din, naging motivation ko din this conference na makabawi sa mga teammates ko,” added Pablo, who returned to Petro Gazz in 2024 following her time with F2 Logistics.
Pablo believes that she and the team’s efforts to learn Tsuzurabara’s system have started paying off, with Petro Gazz holding a 7-1 record as of writing. It wasn’t an easy task to learn the Japanese mentor’s philosophy, but Myla Pablo and the Angels willingly went through the learning curves to grasp the concepts.
“Nung una, mahirap [matutunan] pero kailangan talaga everyday sa training i-accept mo kung ano ‘yung magiging outcome niya sa loob ng court and sa game din. So ayun, ginawa ko lang ‘yung best ko na intindihin ‘yung sistema ni Coach Koji, and well, tignan mo naman ‘yung nangyayari this conference, naging okay naman siya samin,” the former two-time PVL Most Valuable Player said.
Petro Gazz is on a seven-game win streak, and for Pablo, their early season loss to the Creamline Cool Smashers became a wake-up call for the team to up the ante.
You may recall that Petro Gazz was swept 25-19, 25-12, 25-16 by Creamline last November 16, with Brooke Van Sickle being the lone double-digit scorer for the Angels. Following that loss, Pablo knew that everyone needed to step up if Petro Gazz wanted to re-assert their contending status in the PVL.
“The next game talaga, kailangan namin maging motivation ‘yung game na ‘yun,” said Pablo, with Petro Gazz’s streak starting after the Creamline loss. “Kasi syempre once na iniisip mo ‘yung loss, parang kailangan mo i-angat ‘yung sarili mo. Hindi pwede na si [team captain] Rem [Palma] lang ‘yung kumakapit sa team, kailangan talaga i-angat namin ‘yung team namin para maipanalo namin ‘yung bawa’t games namin.”
Pablo made sure to reiterate Tszurubara’s impact, whose patience and commitment to winning has become another source of motivation amid their redemption tour.
“Ang laking factor samin ‘yon na andiyan siya to guide everyone, especially saming mga open spiker na sinasabi niyang ‘Myla, work!’, ‘Brooke, work!’. So parang kami, ‘Okay coach, I got you!’, kasi malaking bagay samin ‘yun na ‘yung trust pa lang andon na eh,” reflected the five-foot-eight wing spiker.
Images courtesy of the Premier Volleyball League.