PLDT coach George Pascua. –PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — PLDT head coach George Pascua is honored to receive praises from Taipei coach Teng Yen-Min after their thrilling match in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference.
The High Speed Spikers squandered a 12-8 lead in the fifth set and fell to KingWhale, 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 13-15, on Tuesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
But Teng was impressed by Pascua’s coaching after the Filipinos fought back from a 2-1 match deficit and pushed them to their limits.
“Their coach is very smart, the PLDT coach,” she said shortly after getting their second win.
The PLDT coach said the Taiwanese’s recognition was heartwarming.
“I really appreciate it because we coaches have different systems. I’m happy because a coach from a foreign team recognized me,” Pascua told the reporters in Filipino.
The former Far Eastern University coach said this will serve as his motivation to do better as PLDT’s gold medal match chances are already out of its hands.
“This will serve as a motivation for me to do well. Because it is rare that they (foreign) coaches recognize our hard work,” said Pascua, who is set to call the shots for Adamson men’s volleyball team.
“I told my players in the dugout. We already unlocked the door for an opportunity to win. But we still missed the chance to enter. Maybe it’s not for us. We need to come back strong and learn our lesson,” he added.
The High Speed Hitters, who finished the semis 2-2, need back-to-back third or four-set losses from KingWhale to reach the winner-take-all final against Creamline on Sunday.
“If we won this game, we will not have to rely on other games’ results. It’s hard to pray for other team’s loss just to reach the finals,” Pascua said. “We’re still hoping but it depends on the other results. We won’t stop until the conference is over.”
If the Taipei-based club wins at least one of its last two games against Creamline on Friday and Cignal on Saturday, PLDT will be relegated in the battle for third.