FATIGUE may have already caught up with Creamline.
With the PVL Invitational preliminary round coming down to its final day on Sunday, Jaja Santiago-Minowa believes the Cool Smashers will hardly be alone in fighting through exhaustion as all six teams enter a survival-of-the-fittest race for the two remaining finals berths.
Thailand’s EST Cola provided the starkest reminder of that reality on Friday, stunning the Cool Smashers in four sets and dealing them their first loss just when they had a chance to seal an outright trip to the championship round.
READ: EST denies Creamline outright finals entry with four-set shocker
Santiago-Minowa put up 19 points, but even her big night could not keep Creamline from squandering its first opportunity to clinch a record-extending 16th PVL finals appearance.
“Nu’ng pagpasok namin sa dugout, sabi ko na magandang challenge siya sa amin, magandang learning siya sa amin. It's just na, ‘yun nga, may pagod pero kailangan pa rin namin pagtrabahuan ‘to,” Santiago-Minowa said.
“Kailangan namin makita kung ano ‘yung pagkukulang namin kanina sa loob ng court. Kailangan namin ma-overcome ‘yun.”
Sunday’s stakes
Creamline now has one more chance to settle its fate when it faces PLDT on Sunday.
A win sends the Cool Smashers outright to the finals, while a loss leaves their bid hanging on the results of the other matches, with the team needing to wait and see if its body of work will still be enough to make the championship round.
“‘Yun ‘yung fatigue talaga, ‘yung paano ka makakarecover, paano mo susulitin ‘yung time na ganuto lang para makapag-prepare ka agad the next game,” Santiago-Minowa said.
“Kung skills ang pag-uusapan, meron lahat ‘yun. It's just that ‘yung pagod and also the preparation. Isang factor din ‘yun kasi kailangan namin mag-switch kaagad after this team. ‘Yung fatigue and the preparation itself, du’n kami nagkukulang.”
With little time to recover and even less room for error, Santiago-Minowa said the race has now become less about who has the most talent and more about who can last the longest.
“Everyone wants to win. It's just I think how you will overcome the pressure, how you will stand out and play harder, and the willingness du’n sa panalo,” she said.
“Everyone is tired already but patibayan na lang talaga hanggang sa dulo.”
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