After the Bacoor City Strikers clinched the championship of the inaugural season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association (MPVA), coach Sandy Rieta knows that they would start playing with a target on their backs going into the new season.

“The other teams would always want to play against [and beat] the champions,” Rieta told a couple of reporters on the sidelines when the MPVA launched its new season on Wednesday night in Pasay City.

“The pressure will always be there every game, even if my team is not the defending champion,” Rieta went on. “What I tell my players is to leave the pressure to us, the coaching staff. They should just enjoy playing.”

Late notice

The Strikers’ rise was unexpected, even for Rieta, who received the call to lead the team just five days prior to the start of the last season.

With the late notice, Rieta called up his players from NCAA team Perpetual Help, including eventual MVP Shaila Omipon, also one of the Best Outside Hitters, and Best Middle Blocker Razel Aldea, the former team captain of the Strikers who was drafted by Nxled in the PVL.

Also powering Bacoor City are Mary Rhose Dapol, who was called up by Chery Tiggo, Charmaine Ocado and Krisha Cordero.Bacoor finished the preliminary round with a 6-4 record and qualified as the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals.

“I think it was God’s will, because I only received the call from Bacoor five days before the opening and it changed my future,” Rieta recalled. “My first reaction was ‘what do you want me to do in five days? My program isn’t for just five days.’

“I really think it’s God’s will for us to reach the Finals,” he added after things eventually worked out for the hastily built Strikers.

Protected with a twice-to-beat advantage, Bacoor City dispatched of Caloocan in the quarterfinals in a game, survived Rizal in the best-of-three semifinals before beating top-ranked Negros in the Finals.