Dante Alinsunurin and Kungfu Reyes live and breathe volleyball, and their wild weekend was a testament to that.
Reyes traveled from San Juan City to Passi City, while Alinsunurin made the journey from Passi City to Pasay City.
Alinsunurin is the head coach of Choco Mucho in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) and the National University Bulldogs in the UAAP. Meanwhile, Reyes is the chief tactician of the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses and a deputy for Chery Tiggo.
Both the Flying Titans and the Crossovers played in the PVL’s final day of preliminaries at the City of Passi Arena here on Saturday — and the twist was that the coaches also had games over at the UAAP.
Alinsunurin hopped on a plane back to Manila at 5:30 early Sunday morning happily as his Choco Mucho notched its sixth straight win in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference with a 25-18, 25-23, 26-24 triumph over Chery Tiggo.
The goal of his early flight out of Iloilo? NU’s crucial match against Far Eastern University at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, which resulted in a heartbreaking loss, 25-27, 14-25, 23-24 on Sunday afternoon at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Balancing two jobs was not easy, especially in extreme situations like this. But for the love of the game, it became easier.
(C) PVL Images
“Siyempre, alam mo naman ako, gusto ko ‘yung ginagawa ko dahil sa nangyayari na ‘to kasi sobra pa ‘kong nagiging eager pa matuto, maglaro sa mga ganito,” shared Alinsunurin on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd.
“Kasi ‘yung volleyball, nag-i-start nang umangat nang umangat. Feeling ko isa kami sa mga tao na nagiging parte para umangat yung volleyball dito.”
Reyes’ situation was even more tight in terms of time, with his UST playing on Saturday afternoon at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan, a hard-earned 28-26, 22-25, 25-23, 25-15 win over University of the East.
He then had to rush to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to reach Chery Tiggo’s game which was slated to start at 6:30 PM in Passi, Iloilo.
Their game against the Lady Warriors finished at around 1:30 PM, prompting Reyes to skip the postgame press conference to hurry his way to the airport with his flight scheduled at 3:45 PM.
His flight was even delayed to 5:00 PM but still, he reached the game of the Crossovers in time, arriving at the jampacked venue during the second set.
For Reyes, the decision to do double duty on two different main islands of the Philippines for six hours was a no-brainer.
(C) PVL Images
“Ano naman yun, same with other coach kami nila Sherwin kasi nasa collegiate na rin sila, si coach Dante. Siguro yung passion and commitment lang. Kahit tanungin mo kung napapagod ba kami or ano, parang lifestyle na siya so used to it,” said Reyes, also citing Alinsunurin and Creamline and NU women’s head coach Sherwin Meneses.
“Again passion and commitment lang din naman. Siyempre ito yung kinabubuhay din namin and siyempre dedication din. Talagang nakakapagod sa katawang lupa mo pero yung spirit mo, yung love of the game sa mga fans makikita mo rin,” he went on.
“Side pocket na rin yung makapag-travel ka kesa naman nakaupo ka lang wala kang ginagawa. Pero ito kasi, may nilu-look forward ka na something na nagpapayaman ng spiritual capacity mo.”
Reyes, the long-time mentor of the Golden Tigresses is also just cherishing these moments where it feels like volleyball has reached a whole new level compared to when they started back in the day.
During the PVL’s three provincial play dates this conference, all resulted in sellout crowds with the fans as passionate as ever, cheering for everyone, and just happy to be witnessing epic moments.
#WATCH: Coach Dante Alinsunurin takes time for some selfies with the fans in Passi City after Choco Mucho’s gritty win over Chery Tiggo
@justinvalencia_ /Tiebreaker Times#PVL2025 pic.twitter.com/ABlWYPhKyX
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) February 22, 2025
“Siyempre, ako naman, sobrang thankful sa response talaga ng mga fans dito. ‘Di lang Choco Mucho, siyempre PVL kasi nakita mo naman, kahit sinong team sinusuportahan talaga. Sobrang thankful ako sa people of Passi, talagang suportado ‘yung volleyball,” said Alinsunurin on the reception they got from the Ilonggos.
“Yung katawang lupa lang yung napapagod pero yung morale mo saka yung spirit mo na makita mo how volleyball is now. Nung dati kami kami lang, ito mas maganda yung na-eexplore namin habang kaya pa ng katawan, banat lang nang banat. Kapag hindi na kaya, that’s the time na pahinga ka na ganon lang naman yun,” said Reyes.
