SOMEHOW, some way, Galeries Tower just finds its groove in the play-ins.
The last time the Highrisers took this route, they stunned Cignal in four sets in last year’s PVL All-Filipino Conference.
This time, they leaned on that same urgency.
READ: Vengeful Galeries Tower takes down Capital1 in PVL play-in game
Despite entering on a five-game skid and coming off a loss to the same Capital1 side, Galeries Tower flipped the script with a 25-16, 25-20, 30-28 sweep on Tuesday.
That earlier defeat lit a fire under playmaker Julia Coronel, who dished out 22 excellent sets in the bounce-back win.
“Hindi naging maganda ‘yung pagkatalo namin nu’ng previous game kasi nakita namin na kayang-kaya namin eh. Sobrang nanghinayang kaming lahat du’n sa laro na ‘yun kaya talagang pinaghandaan namin ‘to,” Coronel said.
“This is the more important game compared to ‘yung previous game namin kaya mas maganda rin na naipanalo namin itong game na ‘to.”
Jean Asis, who fired 17 points, summed up the team’s motivation in the simplest terms.
“Talagang iniisip namin na ayaw naming magbakasyon agad,” said last year’s No. 2 overall draft pick.
“Gusto namin na April pa matatapos ‘yung [conference] namin.”
One level after another
For that to happen, the Highrisers need to clear one more hurdle on Saturday against Nxled, a team they beat in four sets in the preliminaries, to move on to the final play-in stage in April.
Head coach Aying Esteban, who took over a revamped roster at the start of the conference, remains encouraged despite the team’s modest record.
Six of their losses went at least four sets, with only three coming in straight sets, a sign, he believes, that the team has been competitive all throughout.
“Sinasabi ko lang sa players na hindi naman ganun kapangit ‘yung mga naging pagkakatalo namin. Lagi kaming nakikipag-sabayan, at sa dulo lang kami nagkaka-problema,” Esteban said.
“Kulang lang kami sa panahon na talagang magkakasama silang matagal. Du’n kami natatapos sa endgame.
"All throughout itong conference, hindi ganun kapangit ‘yung nilaro namin. Kulang lang talaga kami siguro ng camaraderia pa, ‘yung talagang magkakilala pa ‘yung mga players. Mas maganda ‘yung mangyayari sa’min kapag ganun na ‘yung nangyari sa team.”
For now, Galeries Tower is sticking to what has worked in the past: survive the play-ins, then see where it leads.
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