KUNGFU Reyes took ‘Kungfu Hustle’ to a new level, winning back-to-back five-set marathon for University of Sto. Tomas in the UAAP and Chery Tiggo in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) in a span of 24 hours at the Big Dome.
The unbeaten Tigresses dodged a bullet against Ateneo to extend its best-ever UAAP start in the women’s volleyball Final Four era to eight on Wednesday. It would then be followed less than a day later in the PVL by a gutsy five-set Chery Tiggo fightback from a set down against co-league leader Petro Gazz.
READ Chery Tiggo shows steely nerves in hard-earned win over Petro Gazz
If there’s any formula to the great escapes in a pair of near three-hour contests, the veteran coach says it all boils down to reigniting the fire in each and every player.
“Ang formula diyan, kailangan mo silang gisingin. ‘Yun lang, gigisingin mo lang talaga yung mga bata. ‘Yun ang one thing na formula, kasi wala namng sikreto eh. Andiyan na lahat, nakalatag na lahat. Ano na lang yan, make or break. ‘Pag sinigawan mo, either mabuo o mababasag,” Reyes said.
This approach, he added, may involve more than a few tough love and tongue-lashing. But at the end of it all, Reyes’ heightened emotions from the sidelines carry the goal of pushing his players to the limit and ‘waking them up.’
“Kailangan kilala mo ‘yung players mo. Kilala ko naman ‘tong mga ‘to at kilala naman nila ako, so ibig sabihin, ‘pag tumataas na ‘yung temperature ko, ah alam na. ‘Pag umuusok, kailangan nang ilabas ‘yung buga. Sisigawan ko na ‘yan ‘pag ‘di na kami magkaintindihan nang pabulong,” Reyes said.
“Yun lang, gigisingin mo lang, yun ang right formula.”
The pair of five-set wins typified what has been an impressive run of form for Chery Tiggo, which took down PVL leaders Creamline and Petro Gazz in succession, and for a still-unbeaten University of Sto. Tomas side that just made its best-ever eight-game start to a UAAP women’s volleyball season in the Final Four era.
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