Blaze Spikers continue pursuit of perfection in PSL bid

MANILA, Philippines – After surging through the first round of the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix women’s volleyball tournament, everybody believes that powerhouse Petron is indestructible.

But not head coach Shaq Delos Santos.

Delos Santos believes that the Blaze Spikers are still far from perfect, making them a solid force to be reckoned with when the second round of this prestigious club league bankrolled by Isuzu and UCPB Gen with ESPN5 as official broadcast partner opens this Saturday.

“We still have a lot to work on and improve,” said Delos Santos, who served as deputy to George Pascua when the Blaze Spikers swept the All-Filipino Conference in 2015.

“Although we’re improving every game, I think we still have to work hard and double our effort if we want to go all the way and win the crown.”

Delos Santos has all the reasons to be cautious.

Only few months ago, the Blaze Spikers nearly swept the eliminations before advancing to the finals as a heavy favorite against F2 Logistics.

They dominated Game One and marched into Game Two beaming with confidence.

Then, disaster struck.

Despite enjoying a huge 9-0 lead in the second set of Game Two, the Blaze Spikers were stunned when Cargo Movers’ head coach Ramil de Jesus made some crucial adjustments in his rotation with import Kenned Bryan moving back to opposite while veteran Cha Cruz being tasked to take charge of the open spiker slot.

It left Petron groping for form, prompting it to stumble in five sets before completely collapsing in Game Three.

The memory of that bitter setback obviously remains fresh in Delos Santos’ memory, giving him enough reason to work and strive for perfection.

“We all know what happened last year,” he said without further elaborating. “That’s what we want to improve. We need to develop our killer instinct.”

“A volleyball match doesn’t end at 24. We should not relax whenever we reach the match point. Instead, we should work hard to get that 25th point, which is the most important point of all.”

“If you want to win, you have to work hard from start to finish.”

Aside from that, they also have to work on their passing, transition game and communication.

“We will use our long break to fix all of these issues in training. It’s still a long way to go. There’s still a big room for improvement.”

True enough, while others are treating a first-round sweep as a cause for celebration, the Blaze Spikers will continue to lock themselves up and in quest for perfection.

That’s how champions are made.