Marina Tushova heads to Azerbaijan next, hopes for PVL return
Capital1 Solar Spikers’ Marina Tushova in the PVL Reinforced Conference.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Marina Tushova, the greatest scorer that the PVL has ever seen, is taking her act to Azerbaijan league but she is hoping to return with Capital1 next year after an amazing run in the 2024 Reinforced Conference.
The Russian spiker saved the best for last as she set a new PVL scoring record for the third time this year with 50 points on Saturday.
Even on her last time, Tushova proved to be the gold standard in terms of offensive prowess as she reset the league’s record previously set by former Akari import Prisilla Rivera’s 44 points two years ago with a 45-point explosion against Choco Mucho and 49-point outing against Nxled in a span of 10 days.
PVL: Marina Tushova wraps up PVL debut with 50-point explosion
However, Tushova’s latest career-high didn’t end up with a win as her first PVL campaign ended with Capital1’s heartbreaking 25-19, 36-34, 16-25, 22-25, 15-12 loss to Cignal in the knockout quarterfinals on Saturday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Tushova, who finished with 301 points in nine games, earned herself an opportunity to play overseas anew in Azerbaijan joining a new team, Ganja, but she said she is looking forward to returning with the Solar Spikers next year after turning a one-win team into a dark horse contender.
“I already signed a contract with an Azerbaijan team, with Ganja. I will be there until April. So it’s my plan now. I will go to another country,” said the Capital1 generational star after finishing with 47 kills, two blocks, and an ace on top of 16 excellent receptions and 12 digs.
READ: PVL: Marina Tushova pushes past struggles in record-setting game
“But still I hope we will have another opportunity. I hope that I will come back here to play again. And I hope that I will be better next year. And I hope that Capital1 will improve. too. And I hope that I can bring something more to this team, this amazing team,” she added.
One thing that the Russian learned in the PVL is to smile even in challenging times — a characteristic of a Filipino that she will bring in her future stint in another country.
Marina Tushova and the Capital1 Solar Spikers in the PVL Reinforced Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
“You [Filipinos] taught me that you can enjoy and you can do hard work. You can smile and you can work at the same time. Yes, I like it. I hope to keep it. I need to keep it.” said the 6-foot spiker.
“The team taught me a lot about believing in yourself. So, here I started to believe in myself. Thanks to my team and thanks to the fans. They supported me a lot. And I think my team, my coach, everyone, our manager, everyone from this team believe in me more than [I do]. And this brings me a lot like, ‘Marina, look, everyone believes in you. Just believe in yourself.’ And I learned it here and I hope I will improve more.”
READ: PVL: Tushova urges teammates to step up: ‘I cannot play on my own’
As she parts ways with Capital1 for now, Tushova hopes her squad to carry on this dream run to the PVL playoffs for the All-Filipino Conference in November.
“I feel that they already touched the roof, so they need more. They already learned everything, what we’re doing at practices. Most of the time, when we are already on our limit and in the hardest moments, [we try to] go up again,” said Tushova.
“During these two and a half months, I guess, they did a lot of job. Even today, we were fighting until the end. It’s incredible and it’s so hard to get it when a team is stronger than us. But no, we were fighting until the end.”
