MANILA, Philippines -- To say that Kath Arado did the heavy lifting on defense for University of the East (UE) last year would be an insult to the concept of weight.

In her fourth season in the UAAP, Arado was a tornado on defense for the Lady Warriors. She was everywhere, all at once -- receiving with great poise, then re-calibrating her body in seconds to dig up an opponent's attack. She never took plays off, and showed little regard for her own physical safety in chasing for balls.

Arado's tenacity on defense kept the Lady Warriors competitive. They mustered up two wins in UAAP Season 80, and in both instances it was their libero who was judged the hero. At the end of the year, she earned Best Receiver and Best Digger honors even as UE languished at the bottom of the standings once more.

• READ: Arado's legend grows as UE finds winning ways

Looking back at her campaign in Season 80, Arado can only shake her head.

"Hala," she says, "Hindi ko ma-imagine 'yung last year. Hindi ko talaga alam."

Season 79 was Arado's breakout year. Season 80 was when she propelled herself into the conversation of best libero in the country, a rarefied air occupied by former De La Salle University star Dawn Macandili. In Season 81, there can be no question that she is the top libero in collegiate volleyball, and one of the best players in the country, period.

• READ: Arado shrugs off cramps, delivers once more for UE

But Arado is not weighed down by the pressure to prove herself as the best. She spent most of the offseason burnishing her resume -- winning Best Libero honors in the PSL Collegiate Grand Slam and the PSL All-Filipino Conference, as she played for UE and Generika-Ayala concurrently.

As she heads into her final UAAP season, Arado is consumed with thoughts of her team, and the legacy that she and her batchmates will leave behind in UE.

Mixed emotions

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"Ang bilis."

This was Arado's response when asked about her final year in the UAAP. She had been a co-Rookie of the Year in Season 77, sharing the honor with EJ Laure of University of Santo Tomas.

"Nalulungkot ako," she admits. "Palapit ng palapit, nakakalungkot."

It's not all sadness, though. As Season 81 draws nearer, Arado grows more and more excited. She is more hopeful for her team than she has ever been, and has reason to believe that they can make some noise in the women's volleyball tournament.

"All out na talaga kami lahat kasi 'yun nga, palabas na kami. Marami kaming seniors so palabas na kami," she notes.

"Pero 'yun nga, mami-miss ko rin kasi sila, mami-miss ko ang UE. Though pabalik-balik pa rin naman doon, pabisita-bisita, pero iba pa rin talaga 'yung feeling na nasa college ka pa, naglalaro ng UAAP. So mixed emotion talaga ako right now," she added.

For now, Arado can push those mixed emotions to the side, and contemplate the Lady Warriors' chances in the upcoming season. She is not the only veteran in this UE team as they will also have players like Judith Abil, Mary Anne Mendrez, and Roselle Baliton, among others. Several of the Lady Warriors have had experiences in club tournaments over the past year, and this gives Arado hope.

• READ: ‘Extraordinary’ Kath Arado brings pride to UE

"Lagi naman sinasabi nila coach sa amin na ang kailangan talaga ng team is exposure. Experience sa mga larong labas," Arado said. "Mostly naman sa amin, marami namang naka-experience na ng mga out of the school na league, 'yung mga pro league, ganoon."

"So malaking advantage for us sa team na siyempre, na-experience na ng bawat isa 'yung manalo. Though sa ibang team 'yun, pero madadala 'yun sa team eh. Madadala sa team," she added.

Realistic expectations

Things will be a little different for the Lady Warriors this year. In Season 80, the university's athletic director, Rod Roque, took over as head coach after the abrupt resignation of Francis Vicente halfway through the tournament. He steered the team to two wins, but stepped down after the season. UE went on to hire former UST standout Karl Dimaculangan as the new coach.

As much as they loved playing for "Sir Rod," Arado and her teammates also welcomed Dimaculangan with open arms.

"Parang 'yung communication through coach and player, ang ganda. Maganda siya. At saka, sila coach kasi, sila Coach Karl, hindi sila 'yung coach outside," she says. "Parang magto-tropa lang kami sa labas, outside the court. Pagdating sa court, seryoso."

"Tapos ayun, 'pag nagkakasama kami sa labas, bonding, wala lang, parang normal lang, parang kuya lang, ganoon," she adds.

It greatly helps that many members of the team has had experiences in club tournaments, noted Arado. Because of those experiences, they know how to act as professionals, even in practice. They learn more quickly, adapt more quickly, understand more quickly.

"So mabilis na lang siya para kami turuan ng mga coaching staff namin. Hindi na katulad dati na kailangan mo pukpukin," she explained. "Kasi siyempre, andoon na sa professional league na hindi mo na kailangan pang kausapin ng matindi. Pero ngayon, kaunting usap na lang, more on gawa na."

This doesn't mean that Arado is ready to promise anything as far as the Lady Warriors' chances are concerned. She is hopeful, yes, but she is also realistic.

"Siyempre, hindi naman namin mama-magic 'yung standing namin this season. Kahit naman lahat kami senior, hindi naman ganoon na kailangan ma-magic namin na champion agad," she pointed out.

Rather than make promises she's not sure she can keep, Arado instead targets a more realistic goal. She and her batchmates may not be able to lift UE to Final 4 contention this year, but they can lay the foundation for the batches to come. They can make sure that the next wave of Lady Warriors will not have to struggle through winless seasons, as they did before breaking through in Season 78.

"'Yung umangat 'yung team na hindi in-expect ng tao. 'Yun talaga ang gusto talaga namin," Arado said, her voice earnest. "Halos lahat ng senior, 'yun talaga 'yung gusto naming iwan sa mga bata."

"Para pagdating ng sila naman 'yung (senior), andoon na 'yung confidence nila," she explained. "Hindi katulad sa amin noong nagi-start kami, na parang low morale."

"Ngayon kasi, inaangat namin ng paunti-unti. So ngayon gusto namin na 'yung susunod naman sa amin, hindi ganoon mahihirapan katulad ng nangyari sa amin. Kasi na-experience namin 'yung ganoong paghihirap, ayaw naming masundan ng ganoong bagay."

Relaxed and focused

In Season 80, Arado did everything that UE asked of her, and more. She received, she dug, and she even scored -- something that she wasn't even supposed to do.

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Arado said that she was barely aware of what she put her body through during their UAAP games last year. The bumps and the bruises did not make themselves aware until after their matches, when Arado had stopped thinking of the next step she needed to take to keep her team alive.

"Sabi ko, 'Bakit masakit 'yung ganito ko? Bakit ganito, parang may something sa katawan ko, hala parang na-overstretch ata ito kanina ah'," she said.

"Ganoon, tapos ire-replay ko siya. Doon ko malalaman na, 'Ah, ganito pala yung nagawa ko'," she added.

In Season 81, she is prepared to do the same -- to lift as heavy of a load as she can, if it meant that her team will stay in contention during games. She has spent the entire offseason preparing for the task: Arado sometimes played two games in one day during the PSL season, for UE and for Generika-Ayala.

In the coming months, all of her attention will be on the Lady Warriors.

"Pagdating ngayon, medyo relaxed ako," she said. "(Dati), medyo stiff 'yung katawan ko kasi ilang ensayo, tapos may game. Ilang games per day -- nakakadalawa minsan."

"Pagdating naman ngayon, focused ako sa UE," Arado promised. "Free ako ngayon. Ang focus ko talaga, UE. UE lang. So pagod, pero iba pa rin 'yung pagod ng last year."

"Ako ngayon, parang free ako gumalaw kasi wala akong iniisip na iba kun'di UE lang."

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