SHERWIN Meneses made it a point to instill Creamline’s Grand Slam-winning mental fortitude onto his young National U team, especially when it comes to pressure-packed five-set matches.
READ: Alyssa Valdez says Bella Belen a 'perfect, one of a kind' player
The defending UAAP women’s volleyball champions nearly yielded defeat for only the second time in its last 14 league matches on Sunday as they had to rally from a 1-2 set deficit to deny Far Eastern University’s upset attempt in five sets, 25-15, 23-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-8.
The soft-spoken Meneses went into detail on how the simplest and most mundane of sporting adages has come a long way for him with the Cool Smashers in the PVL, and hopefully soon with the Lady Bulldogs in their back-to-back UAAP title bid.
“Number one, lagi ko lang sinasabi sa kanila na sa kahit anong situation, one point at a time lang tayo, Meneses said.
“(Sabi ko nga sa kanila), ‘kalimutan niyo na kung nag-five sets, kalimutan niyo na ‘yung first three sets or four sets, basta, one point (at a time)'. ‘Yun ‘yung talagang sinasabi ko lagi sa mga players na kapag makaka-one point ka, makaka-score ka.”
This approach doesn’t just apply to five-setters. It’s what Meneses considers to be at the core of his multi-titled coaching run in recent years.
“Ganun lang naman ‘yung lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila na kesyo lamang kami o lamang ‘yung kalaban, dapat ganyan ‘yung mindset para ma-defend talaga ‘yung championship,” Meneses said.
“Kapag ganun ‘yung mindset, talagang hindi basta-bastang makaka-score ‘yung kalaban so ‘yun ‘yung gusto naming i-apply dito sa UAAP."
Eyes on the prize
With targets on their backs, team captain Bella Belen wants to use such experiences to unpack their own lapses before other teams can figure it out for them.
“Maganda rin for us na nag-five sets din agad kami at dikit po ‘yung laro. Makikita namin kung ano pa ‘yung mga lapses namin, kung ano pa ‘yung mga pwedeng pagtuunan ng pansin," Belen said.
Belen added: “For sure, nagsa-scout po ‘yung ibang teams at hinahanap ‘yung weaknesses ng team namin.
“Kaya kami, kailangan naming mag-focus sa kung ano pa ‘yung pwede naming ma-improve at dalhin sa mga susunod na games.”
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