ZUS Coffee head coach Jerry Yee has no hesitation admitting they’ll walk into Sunday’s 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference finals against Petro Gazz as underdogs.
“Yes, yes, underdog kami,” Yee said. “Gumagaling din naman ‘yung locals [namin], gumagaling ‘yung buong team, and ito na ‘yung chance namin. Why not subukan, ‘di ba?”
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American import Anna DeBeer shared some of that sentiment, albeit with a caveat.
“We’ve been the underdogs, kind of, this tournament. We had some opportunities to prove ourselves but honestly, I don’t know,” DeBeer said.
“We’ve already played them [Petro Gazz] before so that helps, kind of having that under our belts.
“I don’t know if I would consider us underdogs since both of us are just as good, and it’s gonna be down to who turns up and ready to come out on Sunday.”
The presumptive best foreign guest player has lit up the league all conference long, punctuated by a 30-point explosion in their 25-22, 28-26, 25-22 semifinal stunner over PLDT.
And DeBeer is the reason why it is foolish to think - and dangerous to dismiss - the idea that the Thunderbelles are legitimate title contenders despite the fact that they are first-time finalists.
Proof is that in their lone meeting this conference, DeBeer had the Angels’ number on lock.
The two finalists first clashed in the opening group stage, where ZUS Coffee stunned Petro Gazz with a clinical 25-22, 25-21, 25-20 sweep.
DeBeer dropped 23 points in that statement win, with rookie middle AC Miner adding 11 and veteran winger Jovelyn Gonzaga chipping in nine.
Not even the three-headed Petro Gazz battery of Lindsey Vander Weide (17), Brooke Van Sickle (12) and Myla Pablo (10) could slow down the Thunderbelles’ beastly scorer.
Surely, Petro Gazz can still rightly claim as favorites. Their head-to-head meetings is one proof which showed it winning five of seven. The last four, however, have been split right down the middle.
But for Yee, what matters isn’t just making history. It’s how they can recreate that prelims edge when the stakes are highest.
“Nakalaro na namin sila, okay naman ‘yung result. I’m sure may mga adjustments and I’m sure iba na kapag nagkita na kami sa finals,” Yee said.
“Nagpasok sila ng bagong tao, nagpasok sila ng bagong rotation, so for me it’s all about matchups — kung ano ‘yung pwede kong best na maibigay na matchup para sa mga players ko. Then up to them na kumilos sa loob ng court.”
The way he puts it, this is not the time to back down.
“Nandito na kami eh. Hindi naman puwedeng ngayon pa kami aayaw.”
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