a little write up about aiza by the philippine daily inquirer:
FEATURE
A Tigress’ Tale
By Romina Austria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 17:51:00 01/30/2010
Filed Under:
Sport,[url=http://services.inquirer.net/tagcloud/keyword.php?tag= Volleyball&id=791&imp=] Volleyball[/url],[url=http://services.inquirer.net/tagcloud/keyword.php?tag= People&id=259&imp=] People[/url]
FOR someone who played volleyball only because she’s tall, University of Santo Tomas star Aiza Maizo sure made the right decision.
Only four years into her varsity career, the 5-foot-10 Maizo has already bagged the Most Valuable Player award in the popular Shakey’s V-League inter-collegiate women’s volleyball tournament, winning both the season and Finals MVP trophies of the second conference last December. In the previous conference, she ran off with the Best Blocker award.
The UST Tigresses ruled both conferences – beating San Sebastian College and Adamson University – making them the winningest squad so far with five championships. It was the second season sweep of the Tigresses, who also bagged the two conferences of 2007, both against San Sebastian.
“I was totally speechless when my name was announced as winner,” recalls a giggling Aiza, who was born on a leap year in 1988. “I didn’t know what to do. Should I get the trophy or what? I expected Rhea [Dimaculangan] to get the MVP award.”
What Aiza didn’t mention was that she was responsible for the last two points that clinched the crown for UST. With the Tigresses ahead 23-18 in the fourth and final set, Aiza and UST guest player Roxanne Pimentel foiled the smash of Adamson’s Angela Benting, which put them within a point of the win. In the next play, Aiza delivered a sharp attack that hit the midcourt of the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan. The Lady Falcons had no answer to that.
“She proved that she deserves the award,” said UST coach Cesael “Shaq” Delos Santos.
It was typical of Aiza not to expect anything grand. As a junior high school student at Iloilo’s Passi National High School in 2003, she tried out for the volleyball team just for the heck of it.
“Wala lang [It was nothing]. I was 5’7” at that time and my friends were saying I should play, so I did,” Aiza recalls. “Eventually, I became good at it.”
In her senior year, she was spotted by then-UST coach Augusto Santamaria while playing in the Palarong Pambansa held in her hometown. Aiza’s coaches strongly recommended her to Santamaria, and after her high school graduation, she was off to España, Manila to try out for the Tigresses. On her first year with the team, the Tigresses broke the three-year reign of the De La Salle Lady Archers and won their 13th title overall.
“I really credit coach August for bringing me here, but of course, my mentors in Iloilo started it all,” says Aiza, Best Server in the 2008 second conference. “I’m glad coach August is okay now,” she adds, referring to Santamaria, who suffered a stroke in the summer of 2008.
He has since recovered and has started walking again although his speech remains incoherent at times. Delos Santos has taken over since and engineered UST’s 2009 V-League sweep.
“We dedicate all our wins to coach August,” says Delos Santos. “He started everything. I’m just lucky I inherited such talented players from this team.”
Comparing the two coaches, Aiza recounts how stern they were: “Pareho silang nakakatakot magsalita, lalo pag game [Their word is law during the games],” says this irregular third year student taking up Technological Livelihood and Teaching. “But there are times they can be malambing and sweet. Off the court, they’re no longer strict. But we all understand that they just want us to be more than what‘s expected of us.”
Aiza made it to the Philippine team in 2007 and 2008 but confesses that those stints were hardly memorable. The team didn’t make it.
Between her classes from Mondays to Fridays, Aiza only has time for volleyball practice on weekdays from 5:30 to 9 p.m. This is sometimes extended for another hour if coach Shaq isn’t pleased with their drills, she adds. Weekdays are usually game days, but there can be no rest during Sunday as well.
Coach Delos Santos, Aiza reveals, requires an afternoon workout on this day when he thinks the Tigresses did not do too well in their previous outing.
Such constant company has made her closer to her teammates –especially Maika Ortiz, a classmate in some subjects – than her regular classmates. But the constant practice has given them little time to relax.
“We had a team-building seminar last November in Mexico, Pampanga,” says Aiza. “It was one of the rare times when we were able to go out as a team without having to play.”
All that hard work has paid off. Already, the team has become popular among volleyball fans, thanks to the V-League and the television coverage of the UAAP.
“Konti lang naman [just a little],” says Aiza modestly. But the fans are very nice to us. They wait for us after the games and give us stuff like chocolates, stuffed toys, little things. It’s fun.”
But she misses her parents and her childhood friends in Iloilo, she admits, so she makes it a point to go home during the rare times that she’s free, like during the holiday break. Still, even on vacation, the athlete in her persists, so she always makes time for jogging and frisbee.
“Para kundisyon pa rin [it’s a form of conditioning],” she explains.
Aiza’s hardly complaining though, despite missing out on a lot of typical activities that ordinary students enjoy.
“I don’t feel deprived at all,” she says. “School and volleyball have been my life since high school. This is the life I chose. •
