AVC losses a 'blessing in disguise' for Pinay spikers, says coach

MANILA, Philippines – Despite bowing out of contention, the Philippines remains positive, knowing that its exposure in the AVC Asian Women’s Volleyball Cup will be a major help as far as reaching their goal is concerned.

Head coach Shaq Delos Santos said their back-to-back setbacks to Australia and Iran were actually a “blessing in disguise” as it gives them mental toughness and ability to handle the pressure for the tough grind ahead.

“We take it as a blessing in disguise,” said Delos Santos, whose wards collapsed in a five-set thriller against Australia and Iran before regaining their poise via a four-set victory over Kazakhstan.

“At least those losses give us lessons that we need to achieve our goal, which is to come up with a medal in the Southeast Asian Games.”

With a 1-2 win-loss slate, the Nationals were already relegated to the classification phase, effectively booting them out of medal contention.

They would return to action on Friday against the loser of the match between Chinese Taipei and South Korea.

Should they emerge victorious, they would advance to the battle for seventh place while a setback would relegate them to the battle for ninth to 10th places.

But if ever they win on Friday then rack up another victory on Saturday, they would clinch the fifth place — their best ever finish in this tournament.

Delos Santos refused to make any promises, but came up with an assurance that they are doing their best to come up with an impressive finish.

“Our goal now is to come up with our best possible finish, which is fifth place,” said Delos Santos, who steered the Nationals to a seventh-place finish in the recent Asian Games in Jakarta.

“It may sound difficult, but the girls are doing their best to make the country proud.”