BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — Nicole Tiamzon was lost for words after Perlas broke through the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference win column on Thursday afternoon.
After all, Perlas fought through hell and back just to reach their current position.
“Sobrang blessing ‘to kasi sa lahat ng mga pinagdaanan namin. Hindi ko alam. Hindi ko ma-‘explain ‘yung feeling ngayon.
“Nakita niyo naman kung paano kami mag-celebrate kanina. And we know na hindi talaga kami nag-iwanan, at nandyan pa rin si God hanggang huli,” said Tiamzon after Perlas’ four-set win against Cignal at the PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center here.
The team missed the entire opening week of the PVL after a member of the team’s non-playing staff tested positive to COVID-19.
But before that, the team had already faced virus-related problems. Seven of their players and one member of the coaching staff caught the virus during their bubble training in Baguio, which cut their preparations short.
Besides this, the team only had two days of practice before hitting the court. That resulted in two straight losses against Choco Mucho and Chery Tiggo.
Now, though, all of that is now a thing of the past. Perlas finally entered the win column through a four-set 20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 win over Cignal.
And 25-year-old Tiamzon had her fingerprints all over the win — unleashing 13 points, all of which coming from attacks.
With the win, Perlas moved up to a 1-2 record.
“Sabi din ni coach (Rei Diaz) na finally medyo na-gain na rin namin ‘yung confidence na dapat meron kami.
“Ngayon kasi ‘pag wala kaming kumpiyansa, sayang kasi ‘yung mga games din, iilan na lang. As much as possible [while] we have this kind of opportunity, we really wanted to play and we wanted to give our best,” said the 5-foot-6 outside hitter.
With the monkey finally off their backs, Tiamzon and the Perlas Spikers look to sustain their momentum heading to their bout against the star-studded Petro Gazz Angels on Friday.
“We’ll create a momentum from this and… You know ‘yung feeling ba na maka-set, makapanalo? ‘Yung mga ganung feeling, kailangan madala din namin sa next games namin.”
