The ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles had come close before. Two of their first five losses in the 2026–27 PVL All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series went the full five sets, and the Thunderbelles kept falling short at the end.
That changed against the Galeries Tower Highrisers on Tuesday. ZUS Coffee came back from two sets down to win 17-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City for its first win of the conference.
Out But Still Learning, Still Fighting
The Thunderbelles are already out of the semifinal race, but AC Miner said the win showed they had learned from their losses. In earlier games, she explained, the team would ease up when it had a late lead. This time, nobody let up.
“Siguro it’s about finding your footing lang kasi. Before, kapag nag-i-start kami, all out, pero kapag pagdating sa dulo, kahit lamang kami, masiyadong nagre-relax kapag nasa dulo na kami; mas tinodo pa namin, hindi yung nagre-relax kami, kasi wala na… So ang nasa mindset namin, hindi matatapos hangga’t hindi tayo nananalo o napapagod,” said Miner.
Miner led ZUS Coffee with 17 points on 13 attacks and 4 blocks. Chai Troncoso added 13 points and 21 excellent digs.
For Troncoso, the biggest change was attitude. She said the team stopped worrying about the score and simply enjoyed playing, even after falling behind 0-2.
“Naglaro lang din po kami; in-enjoy lang po namin yung game kahit two sets down kami. Sabi ko din talaga sa kanila na mas doon lumalabas laro namin kapag ineenjoy namin, may enjoyment and may focus and may winning mentality,” she said.
“Lagi kaming nagfi-five sets, pero lagi kaming nabibigo, heartbroken kami lagi sa fifth set, at minake sure namin na makuha namin itong fifth set,” she added.
ZUS Coffee in a Rough Stretch
It has been a rough stretch for the franchise. ZUS Coffee won silver in the 2025 Reinforced Conference, its first-ever podium finish, but has struggled since then. The Thunderbelles went 1-8 and finished 10th in the last All-Filipino Conference.
With two games left, Miner hopes the win gives the team something to carry into the next conference.
“Of course, confidence boost kasi we have one now in our win column. Sana madagdagan pa yon kasi may last two games pa. Mathematically, hindi na kami makakapasok sa Final Four, so kukuha na lang kami ng momentum in these last two games para, coming into the next conference,” she said.
ZUS Coffee will next face the Akari Chargers on Tuesday, November 17, at 1:00 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
