Mercado helps cool off heated tension between PetroGazz locals, imports

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

PetroGazz is in a precarious position in the quarterfinals of the Premier Volleyball League, and a team conflict won’t be the best things that could happen for the Angels.

Angels head coach Jerry Yee said things got heated between his players and the imports after losing their first game in the quarterfinals to Pocari Sweat-Air Force.

Fortunately for the team, captain Paneng Mercado managed to set things straight between the local players and the two Ukrainian imports Anastasiia Trach and Olena Lymareva-Flink.

“It wasn’t really a fight but there was miscommunication because of the cultural differences because the way the imports motivate their teammates is different there in Ukraine and in here,” said Mercado in Filipino Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre.

“If you look at it in our setting you’d think ‘why is she fighting with me?’ or ‘I feel like everything I’ve done is wrong’ that sort of thing.”

Mercado said they immediately had a team talk following the setback to the Lady Warriors and this led to calmer and cooler heads.

And these same players, who bickered and argued against Pocari, crushed Tacloban 25-15, 25-17, 25-21 to get to 1-1 in the quarterfinals.

“It’s happier to play if you don’t have any ill feelings inside of you,” said Mercado, who had four points against the Fighting Warays. “And the imports also they said sorry and they said they didn’t expect that their words would rub their teammates the wrong way.”