Galeries Tower Highrisers’ Jewel Encarnacion and Alyssa Eroa during the PVL All-Filipino Conference quarterfinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines —The young Galeries HighRisers couldn’t extend what could’ve been a Cinderella run as they fell short in two games in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference quarterfinals.
Just like in Game 1 of the playoffs, Galeries took two sets to one lead — a set away from a playoff win — and could have even swept the series if it was able to close out.
However, the HighRisers were booted out by the Akari Chargers in five sets, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16, 20-25, 12-15, on Thursday night at Philsports Arena.
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“Before the game started earlier, I told the players that no matter what the result is, I’m so proud of them and of the team. No one expected us to make it this far. For us, this is a real milestone,” said Galeries coach Lerma Giron in Filipino.
“We needed to go through this. They needed to experience the heartbreaks, the near-misses, the pain, because the team isn’t ready yet. We’ve only been together for a year, and we’re still learning how to fight at this level. There’s still a lot to improve, especially mentally and emotionally. There’s still a long way to go,” she added.
Alyssa Eroa, who had 24 digs, agreed with her coach, believing their heartbreaking losses would make them stronger after finally experiencing the playoff atmosphere.
“Things happened really fast after I returned to the PVL. It’s exciting because I’m the team captain of a team that’s playing at this high level, in the quarterfinals. I’m just so happy to be the team captain,” said Eroa.
This really tested my maturity and patience with this team. Most of the players are really young, so my experience has been put to the test. It’s also tested my patience because there are times when I feel like I’m running out of energy. But since the team is young, I have to keep working on my patience.”
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Though entering the playoffs after stunning the No.3 Cignal in the qualifying round took them out of the draft lottery, Giron is still confident that they will be able to select the missing pieces, expecting a deep 2025 class and looking forward to taking their learnings in stride to continue rising next year.
“Our draft ranking dropped, and we’re in the middle now. We need to focus on certain areas, especially the wing spikers. There are moments when they need to compose themselves and be replaced to avoid burning out. We’re looking at these things during the draft because there are really good players coming in. Hopefully, some of them will join us because we really need more wing spikers and middle blockers,” Giron said.