Whether the Premier Volleyball League scoring record was on the line or not, Capital1 head coach Roger Gorayeb was sure of one thing.
He would go to Marina Tushova on that final play on Thursday evening.
The Solar Spikers were the first to reach match point in the marathon five-setter, 14-13, after a quick kill by Julia Ipac.
Despite the Russian spiker being the one at the service line, Gorayeb made sure that his setter Iris Tolenada would go to Tushova for that clincher.
(C) PVL Images
“I told Iris whatever happens, give it to Marina, no one else except Marina. Give it to her. I it’s outside, so be it. Eh pinalo ni Marina. Tumama doon sa block. Eh ‘di nanalo kami,” shared Gorayeb post-game.
That confidence in his import came because of how Tushova has been delivering consistently throughout their four matches in the 2024 Reinforced Conference.
It was even more warranted on Thursday as Tushova finished with a record 45 points – the last being the clincher off a through-the-block hit from the pipe – to beat Choco Mucho, 13-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 15-13.
Tushova’s output this conference has been trending up since her first game, where she made 20 points against Akari. She followed it up with a 24-point performance in their sweep of Petro Gazz before getting 28 against Cignal in a loss.
And it is a relief for Gorayeb that the 6-foot spiker is on his side, rather than on the other side of the net.
(C) PVL Images
“Hindi ko ma-contain yung happiness ko, now nandito pa si Marina. Sabi ko nga sa kanya, ‘I would rather see you in my team than on the other side’,” said the veteran coach on their 2-2 record that puts them in the top three spots of Pool B.
Despite the impressive games of their reinforcements, though, Gorayeb still calls for more local support for Tushova so the Solar Spikers can tally even more wins.
“Marina has been carrying our offense for the past three games. Still, kailangan pa rin yung local players na mag-contribute nang mag-contribute,” he said.
“Lagi kong sinasabi, ‘You got to help Marina, you got to support Marina, we do not want all the pressure on offense on Marina’s shoulder.’ Marina for that matter she will make points but we cannot put everything on her.”
