Armed with a new head coach and an intact roster, Chery Tiggo was poised to make a great comeback in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference.
Unfortunately, the current “climate” has not been kind to the Crossovers.
“Napaka-challenging ng pagdating ko dito sa Chery Tiggo. Meron kasi kaming mga bagong sistemang iniinstill sa team. Sa umpisa, syempre naga-adjust lahat tapos at the same time, kung ano anong mga pagsubok yung dumaan sa team namin,” said first year head coach Aying Esteban.
“Nandiyan yung mga nagka-covid, yung isa na-injury, maraming challenges imbis na marami kaming options sa spikers namin so medyo nalimitahan kami,” he added.
Prior to the tournament, the team lost Dindin Santiago-Manabat to a right ankle sprain. Santiago-Manabat never suited up for Chery Tiggo in the Invitationals.
Four key players in EJ Laure, Buding Duremdes, Alina Bicar, and Justine Dorog also missed the team’s first two games after being placed under the league’s health and safety protocols.
All four players were able to make their way back into the line-up but the damage was already irreparable.
By the time Chery Tiggo was able to field a complete roster, the team was already on the brink of elimination. The Crossovers, through the spark given by Bicar, survived their first do-or-die game against Petro Gazz before eventually getting booted out of the playoff race by Army-Black Mamba.
Obviously, this was not the outcome that Esteban hoped for in his debut. But then again, some things are just way out of his control. Chery Tiggo eventually finished last in the Invitationals after tallying a subpar 1-5 win-loss standings.
Still, despite it all, Esteban is hopeful that the team can make a huge pivot come the Reinforced Conference.
“Ang maganda lang sa resulta na nangyari sa amin, yung mga sistema na iniinstill namin ang assessment namin habang tumatagal, gumaganda nang gumaganda yung galaw ng mga player namin,” said Esteban.
“Yun nga lang, medyo short yung preparation namin dahil nga kailan lang kami napunta rito, so sana pagbalik namin sa susunod lahat ng mga sistema na gusto naming mangyari is makuha na nila para mas maganda yung resulta na makuha namin sa susunod.”
Just like his head coach, Chery Tiggo ace Mylene Paat has decided to stick with the silver linings that emerged in this conference. The national team stalwart lauded May Luna, Cza Carandang, and the rest of the Crossovers for putting up a great fight despite the challenges that they went through along the way.
“Ngayong conference nakita naman kung sino sino yung kaya magstep up like May (Luna) and Cza Carandang. Yun yun talagang nilulook up ko sa kanila,” said Paat.
“Hopefully, next conference magtuloy-tuloy. Nakikita ko kasi every training sila talaga yung lagi kong minamata si May at Cza na kailangan mag-step up. Sobrang proud din ako sa bawat isa kasi nagtutulong tulungan talaga, Nakita ko yung push and tulungan ng bawat isa nagperform pa rin at lumaban.”
For now, the team will take their much-deserved rest before eventually heading back to training for the upcoming Reinforced Conference. They hope that by that time, the team can finally have a complete roster to compete against the PVL’s best.
“Uwi ako sa hometown ko sa Pangasinan, binigyan naman kami ng 10-day break ng management. Susulitin ko talaga yun na kasama yung family ko and makabonding sila, antagal ko nawala din nung pagbalik ko five days lang ako nag-vacation tapos balik ulit dito,” ended Paat.
