DASMARIÑAS, CAVITE – ZUS Coffee head coach Jerry Yee believes there’s no sense in dwelling on what was taken away.
Last Wednesday, the Premier Volleyball League announced that the results of its opening-day doubleheader — including ZUS Coffee’s win over Akari — would not count.
All four teams that played, including Choco Mucho and Capital1, had been forced to compete without their foreign reinforcements.
The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) had yet to endorse its International Transfer Certificates (ITC) at the time, prompting the league to replay the matches in the spirit of fairness and sportsmanship.
But instead of lamenting the lost win, Yee chose to look at the positives. He said the experience helped his team settle in and gain rhythm ahead of their first official Reinforced Conference victory over Chery Tiggo EV on Saturday at the City of Dasmariñas Arena here.
“Dun na lang tayo sa positives nakatingin. Like ngayon, probably nakatulong sa amin dahil di na kami first game talaga at nakalaro na sa Montalban. So nakatulong yung ganun para rito sa game na ‘to,” said Yee.
(C) PVL Images
That early runout, he added, allowed the Thunderbelles to shake off the nerves and build confidence — momentum they carried all the way to their breakthrough win over the Crossovers.
After Chery Tiggo threatened to extend the win in the fourth set, the Thunderbelles stayed composed under pressure. They weather the Crossovers’ late rally before Anna DeBeer took charge in the closing moments to seal the win.
The veteran coach said there were plenty of positives to take away from the match. From smoother player rotations to improved on-court chemistry, but the biggest one was undoubtedly DeBeer’s explosive debut performance of 37 points built on 35 attacks, one block, and one ace, to go along with 14 excellent receptions.
Still, Yee was quick to downplay the victory, saying it’s only a small step in a long tournament.
While he felt pleased with the team’s growth and composure, the veteran coach emphasized that there’s still plenty of work to be done especially in maintaining consistency and minimizing errors in crucial stretches.
“Siyempre lahat paghahandaan natin. Sabi nga niya, nag-iiscout din tayo, nagdi-discuss about the other teams. Of course, magpe-prepare tayo. Di naman pupwedeng mag-relax na,” he said.
“One win is wala naman.”
