AS the hands of the clock in the PVL Reinforced Conference drew closer and closer to midnight, Capital1 knew it was going to take more than the brilliance of Marina Tushova for the Solar Spikers to complete their Cinderella ending.
Their locals showed up right in the nick of time as the Solar Spikers drew big games from Des Clemente and team skipper Jorelle Singh in their 25-13, 26-28, 25-22, 25-21 prelims finale win over Galeries Tower.
A bulk of their points still came from the dazzling Russian import who fired in 35 in the win, but with Clemente and Singh scoring 14 and 10 respectively, it gives the squad of coach Roger Gorayeb plenty of reasons to be hopeful entering the quarterfinals.
“Kaming maga locals kailangan namin magstep up, kailangan namin magd-ouble time sa training para ‘di lang palagi na kay Marina ‘yung attacks. Kailangan namin macontribute ng maayos yung scores, palo,” Singh said.
“Ako personally. tinatry ko talaga lagi ‘yung best ko para makatulong.”
While the strong local support in this game gave the Solar Spikers a glimpse of what they could be entering their historic breakthrough in their PVL playoffs debut, Singh knows that it will be all for naught if they can’t consistently back Tushova’s high-scoring exploits up.
That’s why they’re on their toes in practices, making sure that they’re at their best come game time.
“Kulang pa yung ginagawa namin pero nandu’n na kami. Kumbaga one game at a time, tinutulungan namin siya habang iniimprove namin ‘yung mga sarili namin.”
Slow and steady does it
While expectations were low for Capital1 entering the tournament, the Solar Spikers can credit their breakthrough with their patience, having the mentality and fortitude of taking it one set, one match and one day at a time.
And though they still have a long way to go as they enter uncharted territory that is the PVL playoffs in only their second conference, Clemente can take pride with what they’ve achieved so far.
“Goal talaga namin ngayong conference, one set a time talaga kasi ymas eager and gusto lang namin tulungan si Marina and mas umangat pa talaga yung Capital1,” she said.
“‘Di na rin biro mag-quarterfinals kasi ‘di lahat ng teams nakakaabot sa quarterfinals, nabigyan kami ng opportunity so hindi na namin sasayangin ‘yun. He-help namin si Marina.”
And from now until their last game, whenever it may be, expect the Solar Spikers to treat every game like a championship match.
“Kagaya ng sinasabi ni coach (Roger Gorayeb), palaging championship game ‘yung mangyayari kasi kailangan namin ibigay ‘yung best every game,” she said.
“Knockout na so all out na.”
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