Injury behind him, Aerial Voyager back in orbit

Watching him burying triples, gliding and sinking acrobatic drives and winning ballgames for his team makes one marvel at Vergel Meneses’ ability to confront and rise above the challenges coming his way.

In the current Samsung PBA All-Filipino Cup, Meneses would have wanted to flaunt his new form, which has enabled him to take to the air again. Unfortunately, a knee injury just before the start of the season slowed him down.

"Hindi na ako nakapag-practice a week before the start of the All-Filipino. Kaya medyo slow yung start ko," said the 6-3 swingman.

 "If you’d notice, I couldn’t start Vergel during our first two games. It’s because he was hurting and he was still working his way back to game shape," said FedEx coach Derrick Pumaren.

But the injury failed to ground the high-flying Meneses. In fact, his exploits in the Express’ back-to-back victories the past week have left the Purefoods and Alaska squads hurting.

More importantly, those feats, which helped FedEx bounced back from a 0-2 start, won him the Samsung Player of the Week award although he had to beat teammate Renren Ritualo and Red Bull guard Lordy Tugade for the top honors.

Meneses averaged 19.0 points per game and made 15 of his 30 field goal attempts in his last two games as FedEx leveled its record to 2-2.

His baskets have been crucial. In a surprise 90-86 win over Purefoods, he scored 15 points in the second half, including the last four points to lead the Express to victory. In a bigger upset against Alaska, which ended with the same final score, he scored seven points in a breakaway third quarter to spark the Express surge.

Ritualo was also tipped to win the weekly citation as he had fourth quarter bursts that also helped power his team to the win, including that pressure-laden jumper in the last 23 seconds that broke the back of the Aces.

But it was tough to ignore the hard work Meneses had put in to get back in shape again and steer his team to victories.

"Simula nung nagka-program ako last year, hindi ko na tinigil, except nung injured ako," said Meneses.

Makes one wonder where the Aerial Voyager could take the Express if he’s 100 percent fit.