Rebisco takes valuable lessons from grueling loss to Thais

Rebisco Philippines’ in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship. ASIAN VOLLEYBALL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines —Rebisco Philippines’ spirited performance in the five-set loss to Diamond Food was more than enough to please head coach Dante Alinsunurin.

Rebisco-Philippines dragged the Thais to a grueling battle, 34-36, 26-24, 28-26, 19-25, 12-15, in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship Tuesday night.

“Everyone definitely performed. We have been through a lot since 2019, we would have wanted our program to continue nonstop but the pandemic spoiled all our plans,” Alinsunurin said. “But with the results that we have seen since the first game, I am really contented because the players did everything they can.”

“This is our first time stepping into a tournament of this scale. I am really delighted with our team’s performance even when we did not win. We truly have learned a lot,” he added.

At the forefront of Rebisco’s gritty stand was the University of Santo Tomas tandem of Jao Umandal and Mark Alfafara.

Umandal fired 26 points while Alfafara added 23. John Vic De Guzman backstopped with 16 points.

“This serves as a huge lesson for us all. We came here to compete and to learn, and exit the tournament with nothing but all the lessons we can gain,” said Umandal, who has emerged as the team’s leading scorer in the tournament.

“This is the time for us to know our games better inside the court, and we will use this experience to further determine how we can improve ourselves.”

The heartbreaking loss sent Rebisco (0-4) to the classification phase for ninth to 10th place where it hopes to avoid a winless campaign against Sri Lanka’s CEB Sports Club.

The Sri Lankans also lost all of their matches in pool play.