Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos is hoping that the HD Spikers will learn from their mistakes after almost melting down in the third frame of their straight-set victory over Nxled on Thursday night.
The HD Spikers were already two points away from securing the sweep after putting up a comfortable 23-10 advantage before the Chameleons fought back and initiated a red-hot 11-1 run which put them back in the game.
May Luna’s steady performance from the service line disrupted Cignal’s passing while timely hits from Jho Maraguinot proved to be the key in Nxled’s rally, but the run proved to be futile as the HD Spikers managed to escape off a Chai Troncoso attack.
“I think medyo nagiging relax lang din kami pagdating sa mga lamang namin. Lagi ko nga sinasabi sa kanila na kahit ano ‘yung score lamang tayo malaki, maliit man yan o konti lang, I think ‘yung kailangan kung paano natin tatapusin ‘yung every set e,” said delos Santos, who was visibly frustrated after the match.
“So I think doon marami kami natutunan, even ako paano ko rin tatanggapin ‘yung ganung sitwasyon and paano ko rin ide-deliver sa team kung ano ‘yung best way. So everytime na may ico-counter kami na gan’un I think solution kaagad ‘yung kailangan namin maisip,” he added.
Delos Santos saw the incident as a blessing in disguise for Cignal as they would be able to address the situation early in the conference.
The former national team head coach said that the HD Spikers will head back to the drawing board as they look for answers heading into their rematch against Choco Mucho, the same team that booted them out of finals contention in the last conference, next Thursday.
“Siguro lesson learned sa amin ‘yung nangyari. Good thing kasi kung ano ‘yung ginagawa namin sa training, ‘yung pinaghihirapan talaga ay lumalabas sa game. But sabi ko nga, hindi talaga enough ‘yun especially kung ‘yung mga susunod na kalaban namin mas contender pa sila,” said delos Santos.
“So kailangan talaga mas maging seryoso, focus pa kami at work hard pa dahil alam namin kung ano ‘yung mga susunod na laban namin. Maganda rin ‘yung naging run ng Nxled kasi syempre kapag binibigyan sila ng opportunity e gina-grab talaga nila.”
