Christian Marcelino proud of Navy's heart in gutsy win

Christian Marcelino rose to the challenge to lead PGJC-Navy to a thrilling five-set victory over Xentro Mall-EAC in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference at the Paco Arena last Sunday night.

The Sealions were already up 2-1 before fumbling in the fourth frame which allowed the gritty Generals to mount a comeback and force a decider in their Pool D match.

Prior to the match, Navy was coming off a heartbreaking five-set loss to FEU-Chef on a Diet where they nabbed the first two sets before crumbling in the next three to surrender the win to the Tamaraws.

Not wanting to repeat the same mistake, Marcelino took matters into his own hands and delivered the final two points that sealed Navy’s first victory in the season-ending tournament organized by Sports Vision.

“Ano lang talaga, sabi ko sa sarili ko, kapag binato sakin yung bola na ‘to talagang kahit anong mangyari, papaluin at papaluin, papatayin at papatayin ko talaga,” said Marcelino, who played for MRT-Negros in the 2021 PNVF Champions League.

“Tinapangan ko na lang talaga kasi challenge din sakin yun sa growth ko as a player na din saka kailangan talaga kasi kapag natalo kami kanina, malalaglag na kami sa standings. Mahihirapan na kami pumasok pa,” he added.

Marcelino deflected the credit to his teammates, who stuck to the team’s game plan throughout the decider which played a pivotal role in their win over EAC.

“Credit ko po yung team namin kasi yung mga games na… yung mga situations na ginagawa namin sa training, naa-apply namin dito saka makikita talaga yung puso ng mga teammates ko. Credits din sa mga kalaban namin kasi napakatibay din na team, ‘di basta basta,” he said.