JUMP-STARTING CHERY
Losing their first three games wasn’t easy for coach Norman Miguel, not after steering Chery Tiggo to a finals appearance in the PVL on Tour and a fourth-place finish in the Invitational.
But Miguel had to be strong for his team despite its struggles in the Reinforced Conference.
That strength finally translated into a victory—a 25-9, 25-16, 25-23 beating of the winless Galeries Tower on Thursday at Filoil EcoOil Center in San Juan City.
“I needed to be the one to stay strong,” Miguel said in Filipino. “Of course, I’m human, too. I feel frustrated sometimes, especially because I know our team can perform better. We showed that during the On Tour and Invitational tournaments.”
“That’s why I always remind the players not to give up or get too disappointed. The tournament is long, and the format gives us time. We just have to keep working every day. I don’t want to see them feeling down. I avoid feeling that way myself, no matter what our current standing is. I have to stay strong so we can keep pushing for more wins.”
Very coachable
Cuban Kazakh import Yunieska Batista, who lifted the Crossovers with 20 points for an improved 1-3 record in Pool B, also carried the same strength into her games.
“I think Chery Tiggo is an amazing team. They’re fighters. So when I go to the court, they give me this vibe to continue fighting and working,” said Batista. “When you lose a game, you just have to learn from that … we’re not superhumans, we’re just humans, we just try to learn from this and try to give our best and try better next time.”
“We need to learn from our mistakes. Every game, you need to see the positive way because you can share that [with your team].”
Miguel is also grateful for Batista, who has been very coachable despite her experience, including a stint with Cuban national stint.
“I’m also happy that Batista is starting to meet our expectations. I can really see her improvement. She’s coachable. When I tell her, ‘Yuni, I want you to hit this direction,’ she listens and adjusts. She’s very receptive to coaching, and that’s something I really admire about her,” he said.
Chery Tiggo faces a tough challenge in keeping the momentum from this win when it battles defending champion Creamline on Tuesday. Miguel has faith in his team that they can sustain this performance.
“We’ve done this before during the On Tour and Invitational. We started rough but eventually got better. That’s what we’re hoping for again,” said Miguel.
“This game wasn’t our 100 percent, but it’s the kind of performance we’ve been expecting from Chery Tiggo. We saw what we needed to see. Winning today was important, but we know we still have to work twice as hard. It’s a good thing we have enough time to prepare. We’ve faced Creamline many times, so we already have some strategies. Now we just need to refine what we’ve done before, improve on it in training, and hopefully apply it well in our next game against them.”
Ara Galang was also instrumental for Chery Tiggo with 11 points and six digs. Pauline Gaston had 10 points. Setter Alina Bicar had 19 excellent sets, while libero Jen Nierva tallied 13 digs and seven excellent receptions.
Limited
Chery Tiggo missed Imee Hernandez for the third straight game, as she recovers from a minor knee injury.
Galeries, which missed sophomore setter Julia Coronel, remained winless in four games as no one scored in double figures anew, with Dimdim Pacres and setter Ivy Jesel Perez scoring seven each.
Jelena Cvijovic was limited to six points against her former team in 2022, but had 17 excellent receptions.
