Rebisco mentor Dante Alinsunurin lauds wards for valiant effort against Thai club

The Philippines' Rebisco men's team may have absorbed a heartbreaking loss to Thailand's Diamond Food in the 2021 Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship but head coach Dante Alinsunurin stressed that this will only serve as their stepping stone to improvement.

Alinsunurin's wards put up a fight against the powerhouse Thais but their gallant stand fell short to eventually endure a close 36-34, 24-26, 26-28, 25-19, 15-12 five-set defeat, ending their preliminary round dead last at 0-4.

The team got solid performances from young gun Jao Umandal and veteran Mark Alfafara, who poured in 26 and 23 points, respectively. Team captain John Vic De Guzman was also on-target, carving out 16 markers off 14 attacks and two blocks.

Despite the setback, the decorated mentor said he's satisfied just seeing his players compete at the highest level even after the challenges they had to face due to the pandemic.

“This is our first time stepping into a tournament of this scale,” Alinsunurin said. “I am really delighted with our team’s performance even when we did not win. We truly have learned a lot.”

The last time the men's squad trooped to a prestigious tournament was in 2019, when they dethroned Thailand in the semifinal round of the Southeast Asian Games and subsequently bag the silver medal.

Since then, the nationals convened only once---when they set up a training camp for the AVC tilt in Lipa, Batangas last month.

“Everyone definitely performed. We have been through a lot since 2019, we would have wanted our program to continue nonstop but the pandemic spoiled all our plans,” Alinsunurin added.

“But with the results that we have seen since the first game, I am really contented because the players did everything they can.”

The Filipinos will return to action on Wednesday, October 13, against CEB of Sri Lanka in the battle for ninth place.

—JMB, GMA News