The Santa Rosa City Lions go to wherever setter Jerico Adajar takes them.
That was how head coach Edu Lirio described how masterful Adajar was during Santa Rosa's three-game winning streak in the 2023 Spikers' Turf Open Conference.
"For Adajar talagang sabi ko nga sa kanya siya yung mukha ng team na ito. Siya yung magdadala sa amin kung saan namin gusto kasi siya 'yung nagdadrive eh," said Lirio after the Lions took down Philippine Air Force in straight sets last Friday at Paco Arena to rise to 3-4.
The 6-foot-1 playmaker out of Lipa City got the recognition for player of the game with his overall statline of 13 excellent sets and nine points built on four blocks, three attacks, and two service aces.
More importantly, it was Adajar who put the punctuation mark in the Lions' 5-0 blast to end the game via an ace.
"Bilang setter, ikaw yung driver ng team so ikaw talaga ang magdadala kung paano maglalaro ang team," shared Adajar, fully aware of his responsibility.
The 22-year-old fourth-year college student from Lyceum of the Philippines University-Laguna took over the main setter role for Santa Rosa this conference, putting previous conference setter Jason Baldos as a second-stringer.
Baldos though was the first to give advice to Adajar in his first major tournament.
"Talagang maraming camera, live coverage, talagang yung pressure nasayo. Yung spotlight nasa inyo kapag nasa loob kayo kasi nga marami ring nanonood," said Adajar on what Baldos shared to him.
After dropping their first four games, the Lions won over Vanguard, Philippine Army, and the Airmen to push their Top Four aspirations currently at seventh.
