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ZUS Coffee’s Thea Gagate during a game against Galeries Tower in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — From being teammates at La Salle and Alas Pilipinas, Thea Gagate and Julia Coronel battled it out with Gagate’s ZUS Coffee coming out on top on Thursday in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.

Gagate finished with nine points highlighted by three blocks as the Thunderbelles beat the Galeries Tower HighRisers, 25-22, 25-16, 25-19, for their first franchise winning streak.

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“Exciting lang din kasi pinag-usapan namin ito before. Happy lang din ako sa na-improve ni Julia so far and excited lang din ako sa upcoming transition namin sa pro league,” said Gagate of Coronel, who dished out eight excellent sets.

READ: PVL: ZUS Coffee nails 2nd straight win behind new acquisitions

Thea Gagate living up to the expectations. #PVL2025 @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/a7BIltFjeH

— Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) November 28, 2024

Gagate stayed focused on her goal to help the Thunderbelles build a winning culture after staying winless in their past 20 games.

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“Personally, ‘yung goal ko din is makatulong talaga para makakuha ng panalo sa team namin and although we’re a new team, parang halos lahat kami puro bata, we just wanted to give a new energy for this conference,” she said.

ZUS Coffee coach Jerry Yee said their first overall pick has been living up to the high expectations, making an impact on and off the court to boost the team’s morale with other veterans Jov Gonzaga and Chai Troncoso. 

“Pag may talent talaga, malaki difference. Pag higher tier yung recruits mo, malaking bagay. Thea will be thea agad. Iba yung nandiyan siya blocking and offense may lamang ka na agad. Easier for the team para magtransition offense and defense,” Yee said.

READ: PVL: Thea Gagate eager to show more after much-awaited debut

“She is living up to the expectation. Actually, in and out of the court kasi masaya pag meron kang ganyang teammate hopeful ka kumbaga may chance kang manalo agad so excited ka magpractice earlier, excited kang ayusin yung mga pinapagawa ni coach kasi teammates mo kumbaga kita mo may direksyon.”

ZUS Coffee eyes its third straight win against sister team Farm Fresh on Thursday next week at Smart Araneta Coliseum with Gagate seeking more improvement.

“Personally, I think sa blockings kasi as much as possible ‘yung mga spikers ng kalaban umiiwas sakin so I need to find a way to read them and contribute sa blockings,” said Gagate.