PHILSPORTS Arena is close to the heart of Philippine head coach Sherwin Meneses.
The stadium in Pasig City stood as a witness to a momentous feat in sports history when the men's national volleyball team clinched its first-ever silver medal in the Southeast Asian Games in 2019.
At that time, Meneses was part of the team that made a big breakthrough in local volleyball as an assistant coach.
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Three years later, the two-time Premier Volleyball League (PVL) champion coach is coming back in the same venue as the head coach of the national women's team that is looking to make a piece of history of its own.
Made up of players from multi-titled PVL club Creamline, the Philippine team sees action in the AVC Cup for Women quarterfinals looking to pull off another stunner against regional power Thailand.
"Iba yung pakiramdam kasi women's to men's 'yun tapos assistant coach ako dun sa men's. Dito head coach na ako," said Meneses after the team punched its ticket to the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The national team made it to the playoffs for the first time since joining the continental tournament in 2018, beating Iran and South Korea after a 0-2 start for third place in Pool A.
That set it up for an 8 p.m. match on Saturday against Southeast Asia's volleyball queens, who have reigned in the region for nearly three decades.
Incidentally, the Thais were the same team the Filipino spikers beat in a five-set thriller at the PhilSports Arena to book a semifinal ticket in the SEA Games in 2019.
But Meneses know that the Filipina spikers will go through the eye of a needle to overcome the Thais, who are ranked No. 14 in the world.
"Grabe na yung exposure nila sa international tournament pero ta-try namin yung best namin na maging maganda yung performance. Yung chemistry rin ng Thailand maganda na rin kahit puro bata rin sila," he said.
Despite the odds, Meneses is hoping to replicate the men's team's feat with a team led by Jema Galanza, Tots Carlos and Jia Morado De Guzman.
"Bilog ang bola. Last time sa men's, napanalo natin yun. Hopefully sa women's makapanalo," he said.
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