LAOAG, ILOCOS NORTE — Chery Tiggo head coach Aaron Velez was doubted in his decision making on his player rotation in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference.
But Velez opted to take the high road and let his tactics do the talking as he steered the Crossovers the maiden professional volleyball title in the country.
Social media hasn’t been kind to the coach, especially after their five-set losses to BaliPure and Sta. Lucia as he didn’t field his best combination during the eliminations but still finisher with 7-2 record in the No.2 spot.
Take a look at some social media posts below:


He didn’t mind his doubters and remained focus on his goal.
“At this time of pandemic, these challenging times, I think it’s better to be kind, better to appreciate one another and be fortunate that we can do what we want to do,” said Velez shortly after Chery Tiggo fought back from two sets down to dethrone Creamline in five sets on Friday.
“It just made us grow as a person and as a team.”
Chery Tiggo head coach remained focused on the end goal
He was also doubted after losing both Game 1 of their best-of-three series with Choco Mucho in the semifinals and Creamline in the championship.
But again, Velez has no regrets and he continued to give his full trust and faith to all his players, who are always ready to deliver.
“Whether there’s bashers or anything what’s important is I trusted my players to perform whatever rotation it is,” he said.
The now champion coach said his deep rotation allowed them to survive seven straight matches from their last elimination match to Finals Game 3.

And of course, it was the Crossovers’ determination and resiliency that erased a two set deficit and ended the Cool Smashers’ two-year reign in the Open Conference.
“I saw that the ladies were really working triple time and they’re offering one another until the last point just to assure our win,” said Velez after drawing an inspiring game from sisters Jaja and Dindin Santiago.
Velez became the third coach to defeat Creamline head coach Tai Bundit in a title series, joining La Salle coach Ramil De Jesus and his former teammate and best friend Arnold Laniog of Petro Gazz.
After winning his first title after three years with the franchise, the Chery Tiggo coach is still hungry to win more and continue to grow as a better coach.
“I’m just so thankful to actually compete with seasoned and high-caliber coaches. With all humility, I have a lot of things to learn and I’ll just grow as a coach and I hope I can also inspire more players and more individuals,” Velez said.
“Probably it’s in the books but I think I have to push harder.”
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