The PayMaya High Flyers looked like the best team in the Premier Volleyball League until the third set against the BanKo Perlas Spikers.
Having banked the first two sets and leading the third frame, 11-8, PayMaya collapsed and failed to recover. The High Flyers fell in five sets and set up a tougher road to an outright semis seat.
“Overconfident noong third set, masyadong masigla.
“Ang taas ng nilaro noong first two sets, wala masyadong opposition eh,” rued head coach Roger Gorayeb, who remained calm despite the loss.
He is banking on this loss serving as a learning experience for his squad.
“Pagdating noong third set, isang service error lang, nawala na.
“We were leading then, lamang din kami noong fourth set. ‘Di ko malaman, biglang bumaba ‘yung laro. Sabi ko nga, we should learn from this,” rued Gorayeb, who is just one of two PVL coaches to win the triple crown. “In winning, we don’t learn anything, we just celebrate. In losing, we try to analyze everything. Malalaman mo ‘yung problema. We’re still in contention. We just need to win ‘yung next two games.”
Alarmingly, PayMaya had import Tess Rountree score 39 points — but the next best scorer, Shelby Sullivan, managed just 13 points.
Gorayeb urges his locals to carry more of the offense.
“Sabi ko nga sa kanila kanina na ‘di namin puwedeng ibigay ‘yung opensa kay Tess lang. Kailangan tumulong tayo. Bubuhatin niya, eh team effort ito,” Gorayeb emphasized.
“Kung siya lang gagawa, edi siya na lang maglaro sa gitna. ‘Yung locals medyo bumaba ‘yung kumpiyansa noong naba-block. Alam naman natin na ‘yung locals eh basic lang ‘yung character nila, hindi sila ‘yung gigil na gigil,” he furthered.
“Kailangan baguhin ‘yung character.”
