Five months after their founding, the Capital1 Solar Spikers score their biggest victory to date in the PVL.
As the PVL Reinforced Conference pushed through on a rainy Tuesday, the upset axe seemed to loom over the Philsports Arena in Pasig. Following a pesky ZUS contingent, Akari would have the first successful swing at it as they charged back from a 2-0 hole against Choco Mucho.
Then came the day’s nightcap against the Petro Gazz Angels and the Capital1 Solar Spikers in a battle of contrasts: Petro Gazz being a veteran team, and Capital1 the PVL newcomers still building their competitive core.
It was easy to write off the Solar Spikers in this contest. Besides their veteran core, Petro Gazz was a semifinalist in the 2024 All-Filipino Conference, alongside being the reigning Reinforced Conference champions.
Would Capital1 show some fight? Definitely. But at the same time, it was reasonable to believe that Petro Gazz would still be too much against Roger Gorayeb’s young wards.
Yet at exactly 8:52 PM on Tuesday, the score read 26-24, 25-20, 25-18, all in favor of the Solar Spikers. Led by Iris Tolenada’s playmaking brilliance, and Marina Tushova’s on-point attacking, Capital1 pounced on the Angels’ unusual off-night, clipping their wings to score the team’s biggest victory so far.
Low level team? Not so fast
So when coach Roger entered the media room three minutes later, there was an air of celebration from both him and reporters who covered Tuesday’s games. A round of applause and congratulations met the legendary mentor as he entered, who couldn’t hide the excitement himself.
Imagine a father whose daughters topped a school exam. That was coach Roger on Tuesday after Capital1 dispatched Petro Gazz.
“Masayang masaya ako! Kasi who would ever have thought na maiistraight namin. They are always looking at us as a low level team. Tapos makaistraight set kami to a more experienced team? Malaking, malaking bagay sa amin ‘yun, morale booster sa mga bata ‘yon,” he proudly told reporters.
Even better, Petro Gazz had indirectly countered Capital1’s preparations. Despite having a read on the Angels’ defensive patterns, Gorayeb revealed that a different set was used in Tuesday’s matchup.
However, this didn’t prevent him from sticking to their initial preparations.
“Dito ka muna Marina [Tushova], you stay here, you stay here. Eh naging effective naman kasi ang lakas ng depensa! Maski ako nagugulat e. Sobrang lakas ng depensa namin. Last time kasi, last game [against Akari], we were struggling doon sa counterattack namin. ” he narrated to reporters as he referred to their Russian import two seats away from him.
“Ngayon, di kami nagistruggle. Kaya masaya ako, si Marina parang sinapian e. Birthday yata neto! Ganda ng nilaro niya,” the outspoken mentor added, with Tushova scoring a game-high 24 markers.
At the same time, there’s also the revamped look of this team. As previously said, Capital1 now has bright young guns who can still be developed into the stars of tomorrow.
And again, these young stars are highly coachable, and have already grown enough to earn Gorayeb’s trust. Owing to their Akari opener, Gorayeb lauded his players’ ability to now create opportunities, instead of relying on the “breaks of the game”.
“Ano pang poproblemahin ko? Wala na, I don’t have any problem. I never even talk to them during the huddle, konting konti lang…kaya they play freely! Di ko sila pinapakialaman,” he said.
Then there’s his full trust in setter Iris Tolenada, who produced 15 excellent sets on Tuesday. As Gorayeb puts it, he tells her: “Mag-isip ka, bahala ka!” to perfectly illustrate that belief.
“Kung mayroong masama laro, ilalalabas ko, papasok ko. Nagkataon naman lahat maganda nilaro. Pati ‘yung libero, ‘yung dalawang libero namin [Rica Rivera, Roma Mae Doromal] played good,” he added.
No mere pushovers
As big as the Petro Gazz upset is, the job’s not finished yet for Capital1. Now, they’ll turn to scouting their Group B opponents, starting with the unbeaten Cignal HD Spikers on Saturday.
Now, it’s a matter of “playing better than today”, as well as staying grounded despite the upset.
“We don’t want egos to be flying na ‘ah we won, we won.’ This is just our first game. Kasi ako, ayokong magdrop sa 4-5-6, gusto ko sa 1-2-3 para ‘yung kacross ko…hell group kami eh! Lahat ng malalakas nandito na eh [sa Group B]. Diba? Parang salingkit nga lang kami dito eh,” he said.
But at the same time, the coach had to celebrate Tuesday’s upset one more time, concluding: “From number 11 [in their first conference]? Tapos di nga namin tinatalo ‘yung Petro Gazz, tapos muntik pa namin talunin ‘yung Akari? Magandang morale booster ito. Maganda. Mga bata naman, these players are really coachable. Kahit anong ipagawa mo, gagawin nila eh. Kaya masaya ako.”
Banner Image courtesy of the Premier Volleyball League.
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