13-year-old setter stands out for Tay Tung

BEHIND every successful shot of Bacolod Tay Tung High School stars Erika Jin Deloria, Shane Carmona and Joan Marie Monares in the 2018 Rebisco Volleyball League National Finals was a setter with good anticipation.

Katherine Shaine Cortez, a 13-year-old from Bacolod City, slowly made waves in the tournament dominated by 16- to 18-year-old high school players.

Cortez refused to take the credit for her steady showing in the weeklong tournament where they finished on third place. She instead praised her teammates for making her look good with their booming hits to her tosses.

“I was just fortunate to have good teammates,” Cortez said. “I think I played a beautiful music together with the starters so they were able to convert my passes.”

“Actually I had butterflies in my stomach heading into this tournament since it was my first time to play in such a huge contest in Manila,” she said.

“Good thing my teammates and coaches were there to allay my worries and motivate me to just play my game and act as if I was just playing in Bacolod City and not in the Big City,” she added.

Thunderbolts assistant coach Roberto Calamba Jr., for his part, said the coaching staff did not think twice in elevating Cortez to the seniors’ team after seeing her potential when she was still in the aspirants’ team.

“The coaches really saw a lot of potential in Shaine, and since the seniors lost their starting setter (incoming University of the Philippines Lady Maroons’ Marianne Sotomil), we decided to elevate her,” Calamba said.

“At first she was just our second stringer setter but we saw her develop further and click with our starters, so we decided to move her to the starting unit, and that proved to be a good move,” he said.

“Of course there were times that she would commit miscues, have tense moments on the floor, but that’s understandable. She is just 13, and that is part of the process,” he added.

Sotomil, Tay Tung’s star setter before moving to the Lady Maroons, was “not surprised” with Cortez taking her spot in the Thunderbolts.

“She (Cortez) really has the potential,” Sotomil said. “She is also a hard worker during practice so I am really glad she was given the starting setter task.”

While her all-around efforts were not recognized with individual awards – which were mostly bagged by foreign players – there was one valuable thing Cortez will bring home to Bacolod City: experience./PN