Creamline star Jia Morado-De Guzman hopes for 'long-term' program for Philippine volleyball
MANILA, Philippines – Creamline Cool Smashers setter Jia Morado-De Guzman beamed with pride after her club team was able to represent well the Philippines in the recently concluded Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for Women.
Despite a short notice and recovery time, Morado-De Guzman and the rest of the Cool Smashers were able to buck multiple setbacks to give the country it's best finish in the tiff at 6th place.
While she was satisfied with how the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) champions stepped up to the challenge, Morado-De Guzman knew that it was far from what is best for Philippine volleyball.
"Very proud talaga ako sa teammates ko. Kasi hindi talaga biro 'yung mga pinagdaanan namin. Tuloy-tuloy 'yung mga laro namin sa PVL, binuhos namin lahat doon. And then late notice nga namin nalaman na we were going to step up for the Philippines in the AVC," said Morado after their loss to Chinese Taipei in the battle for 5th place on Monday.
"But everyone was very willing to do so. We had to sacrifice a lot of our vacations, a lot of our family time. So very happy kami sa mga panalong nakuha namin, sa mga natutunan namin," she added.
The playmaker lamented the could-have-beens if there was more time to prepare, or if a more organized pool of players was able to see action in the regional tiff.
"'Yun nga lang, like what coach [Sherwin Meneses] said, baka mas na-improve pa lalo. Maraming what ifs ang nangyari, ang pwede sanang nangyari. Maraming nangyari talaga. But at the end of the day, sixth place, that's something to be proud of pa rin. That's still a big improvement," said Morado-De Guzman.
But at the end of the day, the Creamline star called for steps to better the sport in the long term.
"Hopefully, 'yung sagot talaga dito is long-term preparation, long-term system. 'Yun talaga ang magpapa-angat sa Philippine volleyball," she said.
Next up for the Cool Smashers is the ASEAN Grand Prix in Thailand on September 9-11.
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