Kalei fuels F2’s return

MANILA, Philippines — Filipina-Hawaiian outside hitter Kalei Mau can’t wait to get back into action for F2 Logistics in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Champions League in Lipa City on Nov. 20-25 and she’s now locked in a semi-bubble moving from hotel to practice venue to hotel to get ready with the Cargo Movers.

F2 skipped the recent Premier Volleyball League Open Conference due to injuries and safety protocols so coach Ramil de Jesus’ squad is itching to play its first tournament in over two years since the pandemic struck. Several F2 players, however, saw action in the Asian Women’s Club Championships in Thailand last month as Mau and Dawn Macandili suited up for Choco Mucho while Aby Maraño, Majoy Baron and Kim Kianna Dy played for Rebisco. Mau joined the team after a brief stint in the Puerto Rican league.

Mau, 26, said she’s over the moon after finally securing clearance to play for the Philippine national team starting the SEA Games in Hanoi in May. She was issued her Philippine passport in early 2019 but was restrained from playing in the SEA Games that year to establish residency. Now, she’s good to go.

Mau, whose mother is Filipina, said the chance to visit the Philippines and learn about her heritage came in 2018 after undergoing surgery for a dislocated shoulder while playing in the French league. She thought of slowly coming back to the game from injury and figured playing in the Philippines would be a setting stage. Eventually, she fell in love with the Philippines and the fans had a lot to do with her decision to stay for good.

Playing in the Asian Club Championships was a learning experience for Mau and her teammates. Macandili, Maraño, Baron and Dy hadn’t played competitively since 2019 so they took it as a challenge to battle tough teams from Thailand, Kazakhstan and Iran. Rebisco took a set from Iran but lost all its matches. Choco Mucho’s only win was a 3-1 decision over Rebisco with Mau scoring 20 points.

In the Champions League, there will be seven teams in the women’s division with Cherry Tiggo, PetroGazz, California Precision Sports, Sta. Lucia Realty, Perlas Spikers, Baguio Lady Highlanders and F2 vying for top honors. A slew of player shifts make for an unpredictable finish.

Mau said it’s a daily practice grind in Lipa but she finds space for music during downtime. She writes music, plays the ukulele and her songs “Happy Sad” and “Dying To Be Loved” are listed in Spotify. But volleyball is what consumes her at the moment. Mau said her most unforgettable volleyball moment was when she played for the University of Arizona against UCLA in a 2016 match that went five sets. UCLA was up 2-0 then Arizona leveled to force a decider. The fifth set was tied 14-all and Mau broke through with the final two points for the win. Baron said she put a promising modeling career on the shelf to focus on volleyball but when the pandemic is over, she’ll revisit that part of her life. As for Maraño, she’ll sport a new look in the Champions League, wearing a pony tail as her hair has grown to its longest below the shoulders but her trademark clips remain a feature. Dy said she’s excited to play for F2 once more. At the end of every day, she connects with Dwight Ramos via Facetime in their long distance relationship. Ramos is playing as an Asian import in the Japanese B.League.