ZUS eyes fairytale finish against Petro Gazz
It’s almost fitting that a young team with fairytale ambitions will gun for glory against an old guard steeped in championship tradition.
ZUS Coffee certainly knows what it is up against. After all, the team’s coach was the one who laid down the foundation for what would be a successful run by Petro Gazz, the team that stands in the way of the Thunderbelles’ quest for glory in the PVL Reinforced conference.
“They achieved what they wanted to achieve,” ZUS Coffee coach Jerry Yee said of the Angels, who he handled as their pioneering coach in 2018. They won the 2019 and 2022 Reinforced Conference titles with Yee as program head.
”And now, here I am with ZUS, so it’s just work,” Yee added. “That’s how it is. I’m happy for them; they were my players, the ones who are still there, and now I have a new team, and we’re meeting in the finals. Of course, it’s satisfying, it boosts the ego a bit, but at the end of the day, it’s just work.”
ZUS Coffee and Petro Gazz collide at 5 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in a one-game knockout for the crown.
The Thunderbelles joined the league last year and endured bottom-dwelling tournaments before going on a dream run in this conference. And now, they look to cap that run with a maiden championship.
ZUS won seven of its eight elimination round assignments, losing the No. 1 spot only by tiebreak and then knocked out Capital1 in the quarterfinals. The Thunderbelles then continued their Cinderella story by shattering PLDT’s dream of a third straight championship via a 25-22, 28-26, 25-22 victory in their semifinal duel last Thursday.
“This is the job. Improve the team, build it well, make it stronger, make it solid. It’s fun and satisfying, but we’re still far from the finish line,” Yee said in Filipino. “There’s still a lot we need to do. This is our journey. We’re happy now, but we still have a long way to go.”
Yee will lean on high-scoring American import Anna DeBeer and locals Jovelyn Gonzaga, Chinnie Arroyo, Thea Gagate, AC Miner, setter Clo Mondoñedo, and libero Alyssa Eroa.
