THE Philippine Superliga (PSL)-F2 Logistics Manila club went down without a victory in the 2016 International Volleyball Federation Women’s Club World Championship that ended on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
But the entire country, it turned out, was a winner—according to the team’s Serbian coach Moro Branislav.
“This is a win for Philippine volleyball, and I guarantee you, after this tournament, the level of Philippine volleyball will go up to 30 to 40 percent,” Branislav said. “This is very big, believe me, after three to four years, the national team could be in the first level in Asia.”
PSL-Manila was swept away in Pool A but not without a fight against the world’s best club teams, including fifth-placer Rexona-Sesc Rio and losing finalist Pomi Casalmaggiore.
The team, the first local club to compete in the championship, even won a set against repeat champion Eczacibasi Vitra Istanbul.
The home team also lost its matches against Asian clubs in the classification round.PSL-Manila blew a chance for a decent fifth place finish after losing to Japan’s Hisamitsu Springs Kobe and failed to land at seventh place with another loss to Bangkok Glass of Thailand.
Branislav preferred not to look at the results. Instead, he encouraged the players, coaching staff, management and even fans to look on the bright side—that the level of Philippine volleyball will improve after being exposed in a world-class tournament.
“The result is not important,” said the 54-year-old Branislav, who coaches several national teams. “All 14 players were smiling, and that’s important to my work. I like the good atmosphere. The most important thing is to prepare a good atmosphere for the team.”
Branislav was grateful of his players, coaching staff and organizers for bringing the championship to Philippine soil.
“This competition is one of the best that was organized for FIVB,” he said.
PSL-Manila captain Rachel Anne Daquis was also grateful of the once in a lifetime chance and hoped that the so-called “Magnificent Seven” that include her, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Jaja Santiago, Kim Fajardo, Mika Reyes, Jen Reyes and Frances Molina, will remain with the national team.
“I hope they won’t disband the ‘Magnificent Seven.’ They’ll just have to add more players and we can have a competitine team,” Daquis said.
PSL-Manila was composed of seven local and as many foreign imports—bannered by Americans Lindsay Stalzer and Stephanie Niemer, Puerto Rican Lynda Morales, Ukranian Yevgeniya Nyukhalova, Russian Ekaterina Krivets, Thai setter Tichaya Boonlert and Japanese libero Yuri Fukuda.
Gonzaga, also a national team mainstay, wanted everyone in the volleyball community to learn from the FIVB World Club Championship experience.
“I always dream of Philippine volleyball making it to the world level,” Gonzaga said. “Never stop dreaming.”
“You don’t get to play in this kind of tournament too often. It’s definitely one of those experiences I’m going to look back on and feel incredibly honored,” Stalzer said.
“Playing in the World Club Championship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s definitely an honor to be part of this with all the locals and just be able to share this with them,” Niemer said.
Image credits: Alysa Salen