Unheralded outside spiker Sherwin Caritativo picked the perfect time to unleash his best game for Savouge, leading his squad to a sensational victory in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference.
After seeing limited action in the Spin Doctors’ first two games, Caritativo found his way back to the floor on Wednesday and delivered a bigtime performance that helped his side stun title favorite Cignal in five sets, 19-25, 27-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13, at the Ynares Sports Arena.
The pride of Rosales, Pangasinan came off the bench, firing a game-high 19 points, all of which came from attacks, against the reigning Open Conference champs to power Savouge to a franchise-best 3-0 start in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
“Lahat naman po kami is may kakayahang maging first six, pero kung sino ‘yung nag-shine sa training, sila muna ‘yung nasa first six. Pero kaming mga nasa bench, handa naman kaming tumulong kapag pinasok kami,” said Caritativo.
“Nakaka-overwhelm po na nanalo kami ngayong gabing ‘to. Sabi nga ni madam, maraming Alas Pilipinas [players] sa Cignal pero ang pagtingin namin sa kanila is as a player lang din. Walang star player, player lang po. Same na players lang naman po kami,” he added.
Caritativo only had a combined total of 12 points in Savouge’s first two wins against Martelli Meats and VNS, but his exploits against the HD Spikers proved to be enough for him to secure the Spikers’ Turf Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Pilipinas Live for the period of October 16 to 27.
The 23-year-old winger was the unanimous choice for the weekly honor deliberated by print and online media covering the league, edging out Criss Cross’ Jude Garcia and the FEU-DN Steel pair of Dryx Saavedra and Mikko Espartero.
Using his family and friends as motivation, Caritativo, a holdover from last conference’s Spin Doctors squad, is determined to make the most of the opportunity to play in the Spikers’ Turf, especially after missing his chance to play in the NCAA.
He was actually on track to play for the University of Perpetual Help under former Savouge head coach Sammy Acaylar post-pandemic, but circumstances beyond his control forced him to stop his studies, eventually ending his dream of playing at the collegiate level.
Caritativo is seizing his second chance to showcase his talent and make a name for himself in the country’s premier men’s volleyball league, which is streamed live and on-demand via Pilipinas Live app and www.spikersturf.ph.
“Ito na ‘yung pangarap ko na makapaglaro sa [Spikers’ Turf], thank you sa mga coaches ko and kay madam [Sydney Calderon] na nagtiwala sa akin. Mindset ko lang po talaga is mag-focus sa laro. Walang pressure, malawak na pag-iisip.”
