Now with women's team, Creamline's Meneses hopes for shock win vs Thais anew
MANILA, Philippines — Sherwin Meneses has fond memories of the last time a team he was coaching faced Thailand in the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
A part of Dante Alinsunurin's coaching staff of the Philippine men's volleyball team back in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Meneses saw one of Philippine volleyball's greatest upsets as the Filipino spikers dethroned Thailand in the semifinals to make it to the gold medal match of the biennial event.
Though tremendous underdogs against the Thais, Meneses' wards were able to pull out all the stops and stun their opponents.
Now as he leads the helm for Team Philippines with his Creamline Cool Smashers, Meneses hopes for the same unlikely result when the his players meet Thailand in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for Women on Saturday.
Riding a two-game win streak, Meneses says it's going to be a different feeling when he goes up against Thailand's team again.
"Iba yung pakiramdam kasi women's to men's yun tapos assistant coach ako don sa men's, dito head coach na ako. Masaya ako na na-experience ko yung men and women group," Meneses said, after the Philippines' three set drubbing of South Korea on Thursday.
"Hopefully, makapanalo tayo ng isa dito na mabigat kasi yung Thailand kilala naman natin. Pero bilog ang bola. Last time sa men's, napanalo natin yun. Hopefully sa women's makapanalo," he added.
Meneses took the reigns of the national team as Creamline was tapped to represent the country in the tiff. Despite limited preparation time, the country's premier club team has assured the country of their best finish in the tournament ever with the team set to finish not lower than 8th.
Knowing that Thailand has one of the best programs in the sport internationally, Meneses is not expecting a cakewalk but vows his wards will give their all — just as they've been doing all tournament long.
"Yung Thailand, grabe na yung exposure nila sa international tournament pero ta-try namin yung best namin na maging maganda yung performance," Meneses said.
The Philippines play Thailand in the nightcap of the quarterfinals game day on Saturday at 7 p.m.
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