Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Bali Pure head coach Roger Gorayeb was visibly disappointed after losing in their title series against Pocari Sweat in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference Thursday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
As he leaned against their locker room door, Gorayeb said his Water Defenders could’ve done more, but he knows reaching the finals was already a huge achievement for his young team.
The Water Defenders’ core is made up of collegiate stars with just Grethcel Soltones and libero Alyssa Eroa who have played in club competition.
“Yes we fell short but I told the kids that we’re still proud of them because we managed to enter the finals,” said Gorayeb after his team lost in four sets, 20-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 to the Lady Warriors. “There were other people who dreamt of going to the finals and we’re the ones who played here.”
“They are all young players, they are collegiate players, so they should be more matured after this experience. They shouldn’t think of the loss too much and I just told them to be proud of their achievement.”
Unlike other teams, Gorayeb said that they didn’t have a couple of months to prepare for the PVL and all they had was the fortnight before the opener.
Adding to that time constraint was Jerrili Malabanan joining practice just three days before the start of the conference.
“What they’ve achieved was a huge feat considering none of them had this superstar status,” said Gorayeb.
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