PAYMAYA coach Roger Gorayeb rued his team’s lack of aggressiveness after losing to Creamline, 21-25, 25-22, 20-25, 19-25, in Game One of the best-of-three finals series of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference on Sunday at the MOA Arena.
The veteran mentor could not find the right words to describe how his team played the series opener.
“Alam mo kasi ‘di ko malaman kung ano, para kaming nakulam,” said Gorayeb.
The former national team coach felt that his wards did not play like they were in the championship round and that they seemed they could afford to lose the match.
“Alam mo ang problema sa amin, ‘yung nilaro namin kaninan parang hindi championship ‘yung laro namin,” he said.
“Parang mas maganda pa ang mga nilaro namin sa previous games, bakbakan talaga eh. Wala kaming backline attack, wala kaming kombinasyon na atake, service namin ganoon pa rin,” he added, referring to their games in the semifinals against BanKo Perlas.
With their backs against the wall, the High Flyers pulled off back-to-back five-set matches to arrange a best-of-three finals showdown with the Cool Smashers.
But the team that played in Game One of the finals seemed different from the squad that rose from a 0-1 hole in the semis.
“Nakakahiya man sabihin, hindi namin nilaro ang kailangan naming laruin. Championship na ‘yan dapat hindi ganyan ang level ng laro namin,” he said.
“Parang we just went there and played a volleyball game but not a championship game. Parang elimination nga lang na can afford kang matalo kasi may 10 laro pang darating,” he added.
Still, Gorayeb is hoping that they can recover in time for the second match on Wednesday.
“‘Yun na lang, hoping na ganun ulit mangyari (noong semis),” he said.
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