By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Negrense standout Kimberly Chelmei Ibanez Rubin is heading to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Junior Tigresses in the UAAP for the remaining years of her high school volleyball career.
The Negros Occidental’s La Carlota City-native Rubin went with the Junior Tigresses despite several enticing offers from other Manila-based schools, as she sees herself improving at the España-based campus.
“I am happy and overwhelmed to be recruited by UST Junior Tigresses. I chose them because that is where I see myself improving and growing as a volleyball player,” Rubin said in an interview with Watchmen Daily Journal yesterday.
“I am excited to start my journey with UST and it would be an advantage for us to train early since most of us come from different places all over the Philippines,” the 5-foot-7 volleybelle added.
Rubin, who is turning 16 years old on July 20, spent her previous years with the Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts and Our Lady of Pilar Academy at Barangay Maao in Negros Occidental’s Bago City.
Rubin, a many-time Most Valuable Player awardee in various tournaments in Western Visayas, also represented the country in the 14th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship in Thailand last year.
“I am thankful to Sir Boy [Montalbo] of JGM Dreams Foundation as well as to my coaches at Bacolod Tay Tung and OLPA-Bago as they played a huge role in my development as a volleyball player,” Rubin said.
“I will definitely bring to UST all my volleyball learnings from them, including the values that they have instilled in me, like being a passionate, dedicated and cooperative player,” she added.
Rubin will be the second former Bacolod Tay Tung High School volleybelle on the Junior Tigresses roster aside from Bacolod City-native Ysabelle Chua, who joined the squad last year.
“Definitely, my UST teammates can expect me to give my 101 percent. We will work hard on our drills and training and adapt ourselves to them. We only have one goal in mind, which is to bring the crown to Espanya,” Rubin said./ASC, WDJ