And it did not take long for Bermillo’s college coach Roger Gorayeb to catch wind of the unpleasant event.
“Hindi ko nakita pa kaso yung manager ng BaliPure si sir Paolo [Turno – Bali Pure management] nag-text sa akin nagso-sorry sa nangyari.
“Sabi ko, ‘Sir, anong nangyari?’ Kakatapos lang ng laro namin e. Si Jewelle binatukan,” said the San Sebastian mentor, Gorayeb, who heard of the incident moments after PLDT’s four-set loss to Cignal HD in the PSL on Saturday.
Gorayeb said that he is not taking any sides on the issue, which rooted from a receiving miscommunication between the two aforementioned players. He also would rather give both parties “the benefit of the doubt” especially since he has yet to acquire the complete details on what had happened.
However, he made it clear that, regardless of whether the Montenegrin reinforcement had a valid reason to do what she had done, acting as such is not the right way of dealing with the predicament.
“Kung ano yung sitwasyon, kung ano yung pangyayari, siyempre yung act itself hindi maganda,” the veteran strategist confided. “Mahirap naman magsalita kasi hindi ko naman nakita yung sitwasyon talaga kung sino ba may kasalanan, kung sino ba dapat kumuha ng bola.
“Pero sana hindi umabot sa ganun. Either way, kahit tama man yung import hindi pa rin maganda tignan na may ganung nangyayari within the team.”
Moreover, if ever Bermillo is to be blamed with the in-game communication error, Gorayeb stressed that she shouldn’t have gone through such a harsh experience just to realize her mistakes.
“Lagi kong sinasabi sa mga players, We have to learn from our mistakes kaya lang bakit kailangan we learn it the hard way?” Gorayeb lamented.
“Pwede naman nating matutunan yan ng madaling pamamaraan pero bakit kailangan may dagok?”
Bermillo, who will be a sophomore defensive specialist for the Lady Stags come NCAA Season 95, was reduced to tears after Dzakovic’s swing. Her contact lens also fell off due to the hard impact.
And as a coach to Bermillo, Gorayeb couldn’t help but sympathize with his libero.
“Naaawa ako based lang sa stories na narinig ko dahil sabi sakin ni sir Paolo nabatukan pero nagsorry naman daw yung import kaso hindi ko alam na sa pagbatok na nalaglag yung contact lens so medyo malakas talaga,” he shared.
“Siyempre, napahiya yung bata sa harap ng maraming tao. Iiyak talaga yun,” he further said.
“Co-comfort ko na lang sa Monday. Magandang lesson din sa kanya yan.”
