AS the dust settled on one of the Premier Volleyball League’s (PVL) biggest upsets in recent memory, Capital1’s Russian import Marina Tushova had quite the interesting choice of words to describe her Philippine volleyball experience to date.
READ: Capital1 completes monumental upset in sweep of Petro Gazz
Two matches into her PVL career after prior stints in Russia, France and Switzerland, the 25-year-old Russian winger averaged 22 points in a close four-set loss to Akari and then a monumental sweep of Petro Gazz.
But while most, if not all, imports had nothing but praise for the competitiveness and quality of play in the country, Tushova was rather critical.
In her own words, the quality of Philippine volleyball - at least for now - has a lot left to be desired.
“Sorry if it’s gonna be rude, but (Philippine volleyball) is not that high quality,” Tushova said, while pointing out setting and passing as skills that need improvement, in particular.
Philippine volleyball's fire and desire
While Filipinos’ skill deficit may be evident, their passion for the game, in Tushova’s view, is unmatched.
“But you Filipinos always want the best of everything. You enjoy the game and you have a big desire. It’s hard to play, even in international-level competitions. Sometimes, you play so good like Japan, like all Asian teams,” the Russian ace added.
And just like what her Capital1 side showed against the two-time PVL champions, the sport does tend to be unpredictable at times, in which surprises strike when one might least expect.
“There’s good defense and you’ll never know how a team will play against you like today. No one thought that we’re gonna play like this, but we were starving for our win and we did it," she said.
“We didn’t think about what we’re gonna get. We want to play, we want to fight, and we showed it. Sometimes, I want like some punch on me. I’m Russian. We work like this.”
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