Maraño after China loss: PH volleyball has a long way to go, but we’ll persevere

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After the Philippines got destroyed by one of the world’s best volleyball teams, Philippine volleyball team captain Aby Maraño managed to find a silver lining in the huge loss.

The Filipino volleybelles suffered a sound beating from Olympic champion China, 25-15, 25-9, 25-7, in their quarterfinals matchup that ended their medal hunt in the 2018 Asian Games.

The outspoken Maraño acknowledge that the loss to the taller and more experienced Chinese team led by stars Zhu Ting and Gong Xiangyu showed how much work still needs to be done for the Philippines in the international arena.

“Isang karangalan na makalaban ang China team, purong Olympian. Mapalad kami na makaranas ng ganito, yung sumubok at hindi sumuko,” the 25-year-old Maraño wrote in an Instagram post.

“Nagsisimula pa lang tayo. Malayo pa ang itatakbo ng Pilipinas Volleyball. Sa ngayon, nakita natin kung nasaan na tayo. Malayo pa pero magtiyaga lang at tiwala, lahat ng iyan makakaya,” she added.

(It was an honor to play against the China team, which is full of Olympians. We’re lucky to have experienced this, to fight and not give up. We’re just starting. Philippine volleyball still has a long way to go. Right now, we saw how far we are. But we’ll persevere and continue trusting. We can get there.)

Maraño also lauded Jaja Santiago, who is headed to Japan to play as an import, for putting up a stellar performance against the Chinese.

The towering 6-foot-5 Santiago singlehandedly powered the national team from both ends, registering 16 points off 12 spikes, three blocks and an ace.

“Siya nga pala, pinupuri ko ang batang ito @alyjasantiago3 na nakipagtagisan ng galing at husay kanina,” Maraño said.

“Mabuhay ka Ja, tandaan mo yung sinabi ko, ikaw ang pinakamalaking manlalaro ng Volleyball sa Pilipinas at malayo pa ang mararating mo kaya tumuloy ka, wag hihinto. Ipinagmamalaki ka namin. ,” she continued.

(By the way, I’m praising this kid Jaja Santiago who was able to keep up earlier. Remember what I told you, Ja. You’re the best player in Philippine volleyball at you’ll go far if you keep on going. So don’t stop. We are proud of you.)

The Filipino volleybelles will next face Kazakhstan in the classification phase, where the best result it could get is ninth.