From being a rookie team opponents easily brushed aside in the very recent past, ZUS Coffee’s rise continues to show in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.

Though the Thunderbelles don’t have the best record at 3-4, they are still in their best tournament yet, with two of those four losses coming from powerhouses Creamline and Choco Mucho, who they both took to the proverbial limit.

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“All teams aim to improve, to be No. 1. And then even if you are No. 1, you can’t be stagnant,” coach Jerry Yee said in Filipino after ZUS Coffee took the wind out of Capital1, 31-29, 25-15, 25-15, on Saturday night.

“You have to always move forward,” he added. “Sometimes it’s tiring, frustrating and then of course you look back and then [see] the many positives that we have come up with.”

Called Strong Group in its first two conferences, ZUS Coffee finished dead last each time after failing to notch a win.

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Taken seriously

But after a massive talent hiring in recent months, counting the acquisition of top overall pick Thea Gagate in the league’s first-ever Draft, ZUS Coffee is now being taken seriously by everyone else.

The Cool Smashers and the Flying Titans can attest to that.

“You can’t help but be happy with the team,” Yee continued. “We need those kinds [of games against heavyweight teams]—we need to go through those games to grow. I am happy that they came early in the conference.

“There are stages like that, when we go through five-setters,” he explained. “We have to get over the hump to learn, to mature, to become a better team.”

That exciting opening frame against Capital1 is a good test of their execution, confidence and trust, all of which Yee said they will work on.

“It won’t be easy, because individually, they need to have full confidence in themselves,” he said. “And as a team, their timing needs to jive with each other. You have to improve, be better and adjust.” INQ