The stars aligned for volleyball coach Kungfu Reyes last Saturday.
He had two matches that day, one in the professional Premier Volleyball League, the other in the UAAP. His problem was how to be in time for the University of Santo Tomas game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum for the UAAP game against Adamson University when he has to come from Sta. Rosa, Laguna where he was coaching Chery Tiggo in the PVL.
Such problem does not normally occur, because PVL and UAAP matches are normally held in Metro Manila. But in this instance, the PVL was in its first out-of-town game for the season and Reyes naturally had to be there.
Reyes welcomes UAAP delay
But the guy was in luck. The UAAP games were delayed by no less than two hours because of some technical glitches on the floor, thereby giving Reyes the window to travel nearly leisurely from Laguna to Quezon City, a short distance of about 47 kilometers, but one had to face terrible traffic.
When the dust settled, Reyes's day was not only complete, it was very satisfactory. He not only came on time for the UST vs Adamson match which the Tigresses won, the Crossovers also were victorious in their PVL game.
Twinkill for Reyes
Both games had significant ramifications.
Creamline had won 19 straight games and was easily the favorite against Chery Tigo. But the Crossovers produced what arguably was their best game of the series, and surprised the defending champions in straight sets, 25-18, 26-24, 25-23. It was the first time that Creamline lost in straight sets since 2019.
And to add cherry on top of the cake, the Tigresses of UST beat Adamson, 25-18, 22-25, 25-15, 28-26, in their delayed game to sweep the first round of the UAAP women's volleyball tournament, winning all seven games, their first ever in the Final Four era.
If not for the delay, Reyes would have been forced to call on his assistants to coach UST whose game against Adamson was delayed four hours. Originally set to start at 4 p.m., it was played at 8 p.m. and finished at around 10 p.m.
Chery Tiggo's game against Creamline, on the other hand, was played on time at 2 p.m. and finished about two hours later. Having to leave the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex at the game's finish, it was impossible for Reyes to catch UST's game if it had been played as scheduled.
The delay, said Reyes, was a blessing in disguise.
“Sasabihin ko pa bang hindi (siya blessing in disguise)? Actually parang mas medyo naging magaan, may delay, siyempre wala namang may gusto, pero ayun na nga tumama sa amin yung ganung pagkakataon,” Reyes said.
Reyes said he was wondering how he could coach UST as he was coming from Laguna when, from out of the blue, he got a message from the UAAP informing him that there would be a delay in the start of the game.
“Suddenly nag-message sa group si (UAAP president Rod) Roque, sinabi sa lahat ng UAAP schools na may delay," Reyes said.
The long delay allowed Reyes to relax and do other things. “Luckily, nakaabot at nakapagpahinga (pa ako). Nakakain pa ko, ang dami pang kwentuhan eh. Inabutan ko ‘yung first set (ng NU vs. La Salle) tapos maya-maya, fifth set na so medyo naka relax naman kami."
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