ONE of Philippine volleyball’s pioneering imports in Jang Bualee made an emotional return to Manila in the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League as team manager-slash-assistant coach for six-time Thai champion Nakhon Ratchasima.
Bualee was a two-time Shakey’s V-League MVP after making a name for herself with Sandugo-San Sebastian under the tutelage of veteran champion mentor Roger Gorayeb before a brief PVL stopover with Balipure in 2017.
READ: Nakhon Ratchasima denies PLDT rally, books a date with Creamline in AVC quarterfinals
She’d rack up multiple top scorer and best opposite spiker nods in her Philippine stint to cement her stature as one of the most impactful imports to have graced the sport just before its meteoric rise.
Gorayeb made sure to pay Bualee a visit and had a touching reunion after many years apart.
“Nung Sunday, nagpunta ako du’n sa hotel. May ibibigay daw siya sa’kin, so ito ‘yung binigay niya [new shoes], sapatos, T-shirt. Excited na ‘yang umuwi [dito] at makausap kami,” said Gorayeb.
“‘Yung mga dating teammates, nag-chat sa kanya. Natutuwa naman ako kasi matagal na rin kaming hindi nag-uusap at nagkikita.”
Bualee shared: “I’m very happy to see him again. I messaged him, ‘Coach, are you coming to approach me?’ He said, ‘yes, of course.’”
What the Capital1 head coach will always remember about Bualee wasn’t just her legacy in the sport but her ‘Filipino-like’ character and generosity off of it.
A testament to this was when Bualee paid Gorayeb a surprise visit to grieve the loss of the veteran coach’s wife in his home.
“Natutuwa ako kasi ang laki ng kontribusyon niya rito para iangat yung popularity ng volleyball. Napakabait kasi niyang bata. Malaki naitulong niya nung early years ng liga sa volleyball,” said Gorayeb.
“Naa-appreciate ko kasi pati yung ugali niya, parang ugaling Pilipino. Hindi mahirap kausap, hindi mahirap pakisamahan. Nakakatuwa," he continued.
“Bumalik siya dito, two, three years ago. Du’n siya sa bahay nag-stay para lang mabisita kami kasi namatay ‘yung wife ko nu’n, at the same time, umiiyak din siya. Wala pa siyang tirahan dito kaya du’n muna siya nu’n sa bahay ko. Natutuwa naman ako.”
Bualee’s Nakhon Ratchasima will be reunited, albeit as a coach this time, with her former Shakey’s V-League rival in Alyssa Valdez as the Thai powerhouse takes on Creamline for a spot in the Final Four of the Asian meet on Thursday.
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