In final season for FEU, Malabanan wants to be a well-rounded player

MANILA, Philippines – Not generally known for her defense, Far Eastern University (FEU) veteran Jerrili Malabanan is looking to shore up her skills on that end of the floor as she enters her final season with the Lady Tamaraws.

Malabanan is expected to be a featured player for FEU this year, especially with former top scorer Bernadeth Pons already exhausting her eligibility. Their coach, George Pascua, has made it clear that he expects the Fil-American spiker to step up and try to fill the position vacated by Pons.

"Hindi ko naman sinasabi na pantayan si Pons. Pons is Pons eh," Pascua said of the much-loved spiker, who established herself as the best all-around player in the UAAP in her final playing year. "Kumbaga, 'yung intensity ni Pons, kahit papaano huwag naman masyadong lumayo."

Malabanan is ready to take on the challenge. She knows she cannot do what Pons used to do for FEU – "Bernadeth Pons is like, an irreplaceable player," she said – but Malabanan still wants to contribute in all aspects of the game, just as Pons used to do.

Pons was a statistical marvel in her final year for FEU, regularly putting up "triple-doubles" – double-digit scoring, digging, and receiving. Already their first option in scoring, Pons also acted as a second libero for the team, and was the catalyst to their run to the UAAP Season 80 finals.

As Malabanan said, Pons is irreplaceable – which is why it's not just her who needs to step up for the Lady Tamaraws this season.

"Instead of thinking that one player has to step up, our team has kind of distributed it," explained Malabanan, who had nine points in FEU's 3-set win over San Beda University on Wednesday. "Everybody has to step up. The pressure is not just on one player."

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Personally, however, Malabanan is determined to "step up in everything" in her final year as a Lady Tamaraw – but she especially wants to improve on the defensive end of the floor after being mostly known as a scorer in her first few years in the league.

"Not just hitting," said Malabanan. "The previous conferences, I haven't been really helping the team receiving-wise or digging-wise."

"That's what I'm focusing on this conference, because that's what we need – receiving and digging," she added.

Malabanan is also being asked to take on a bigger leadership role, and this is one task that she has yet to get used to.

"It's harder than I thought," she admitted. "I thought it was because we're not used to it. The past few years, I've been used to having these seniors. Now I'm the one who has to guide the young ones."

"This year, it's new for me, and (Kyle) Negrito and the other people. We're still adjusting," she added.

But she vowed to adjust to her role and develop further as a player, especially now that she has a much bigger role in the team.

"I think my performance kinda went down in the UAAP (last year)," she said. "But this is my last year, so I'm trying to give it my best."

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