MANILA, Philippines — Kath Arado savored her first-ever championship as the heart and soul of PLDT, which rose from previous heartbreaks to sweep the PVL on Tour.

Arado didn’t reach the Final Four when she was the leader of the University of the East Lady Warriors and even suffered from heartbreaking semifinals and quarterfinals exits as a pro with the High Speed Hitters.

READ: PLDT withstands Chery Tiggo for first PVL title

But the veteran libero never gave up on her dream until she finally got a taste of a championship success on Sunday after PLDT took down Chery Tiggo in a thrilling preseason final, 25-17, 25-17, 19-25, 24-26, 15-8, at Mall of Asia Arena.

“Right now, I honestly can’t even put into words what I’m feeling. I’m just really, really grateful to be part of this team — to have these coaches, these teammates. I’m so proud that I get to wear this [championship] shirt with them,” Arado said in Filipino after protecting the floor with 29 digs and 10 excellent receptions.

“This journey wasn’t easy. Things can get really emotional, but our coaches were so patient with us, especially with me. They’d tell me, “You have to set the tone.” But their patience during training really stuck with us and we brought all of that into this championship.”

Arado and the High Speed Hitters replaced a semifinal five-set heartbreak to Akari in the Reinforced last year at Mall of Asia Arena with a perfect title run.

“Honestly, we weren’t thinking about that loss anymore. We couldn’t afford to dwell on it or let that heartache stay with us. Instead, we used it as motivation to keep improving. We knew we couldn’t just blame one side, we had our share of mistakes, too,” she said.

READ: PLDT’s depth shines in PVL on Tour title run, says Savi Davison

“But what really made a difference this time was the team’s maturity. That’s probably what helped us get this championship. We’ve really grown.”

Arado, who transferred to PLDT in 2022, was fulfilled to see what their stacked roster could achieve when complete and healthy as they are out to try another run in the Invitationals starting on Thursday against Chery Tiggo at Philsports Arena.

“From Day 1, we’ve made so many sacrifices as a team, especially the coaches. They were fully hands-on in every game, every opponent we faced. They were already giving us everything, all we had to do was apply it,” Arado said.

“I’m proud because our journey started from scratch. We went through so many injuries, it felt like they never stopped. But now, we were finally complete as a team, and to win the championship this way, I’m just so happy.”