There was undeniable energy in the Alonte Sports Arena, and the National Team made sure to feed off the ruckus crowd.
Playing in their first match of the Asian Senior Women’s Championship, the Philippines treated the crowd to a straight-set win over Hong Kong, which vaulted them to the quarterfinals.
“Andiyan pa rin ‘yung first game jitters,” said skipper Mika Reyes, who tallied six points. “Sabi ko nga, it’s not a really long preparation. Weeks before lang kami nag-prepare, I think two to three weeks lang.
“Siguro, kahit papaano, nandoon na din naman na ‘yung pattern na natutunan namin sa Japan unti-unti namin na-apply.”
It’s been so long since I played with this kind of crowd, two years ago na ‘rin,” added Alyssa Valdez, who topped the squad with 14 points.
“Super excited and being with my teammates very overwhelming pa rin ang pakiramdam kasi kahit anong nangyayari ‘di ka susukuan ng kapwa natin Filipino.”
The Philippines, however, is not content with just the quarterfinals. Taking on Kazakhstan in the final match of Group A on Friday, the Nationals want to keep the euphoria going.
“Technical stuff siguro, service receive and blocking and more communication inside the court against Kazakhstan,” added the country’s top spiker Valdez regarding what they need to focus on and improve.
“But, definitely, we really have to enjoy the game and we really have to give the credits lahat to our coaches, all the supporters of the team sana para samin.”
“We want to accomplish more pa in this tournament,” declared the PSL’s ambassador Reyes.
“Siguro service receive pa rin kailangan kasi ‘yun naman ‘yung una naming ginagawa pag pasok ng court and, siyempre, pagaaralan talaga namin sila.”
