PH spikers must test mettle vs big teams

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Bernardo Rezende, Rexona SESC Rio’s head coach, offered one tip for Filipino volleyball players: Play more often against big teams.

“This is the beginning, they should keep playing hard. But they should play more, otherwise it’s hard,” said Rezende, who coached the Brazil men’s team to the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medal.

“Playing just once against this kind of teams you will not get the experience (you needed),” added Rezende after his team downed PSL-F2 Logistics Manila in three sets Tuesday.

The Brazilian mentor nevertheless lauded the “team spirit” and “fighting attitude.”

“The public already has their heroes,” he said when asked about Filipino players. “They played good in attacks. They played fast and is a young talented team.”

He bared that PSL-F2 worried them “because we haven’t heard of them. We have no information of the team and where it competed before.”

So Rexona SESC Rio, which won the Brazilian league a total of 11 times, didn’t hold punches. “We had to be focused,” Rezende said.

“They (PSL-F2) were trying to do their best. We are winning the first two sets and they suddenly came back. They really fought hard to come back,” he added.

“Hard to tell one player who impressed me, but playing at this level you never lose,” Rezende said. “This is a learning experience.”