ZUS Coffee covering all bases

ZUS Coffee is leaving no stone unturned in its preparation for the regular season of the 2026-2027 Premier Volleyball League (PVL).

Despite a perfect 2-0 record in the ongoing preseason On Tour Showdown, Thunderbelles coach Jerry Yee keeps pushing his wards to work on the facets of their game they need to improve on to contend for a first-ever championship.

“If you’re a coach, what you really see are the lapses, the shortcomings and things that your team needs to improve on,” Yee said.

ZUS Coffee has won over Akari, 25-11, 25-23, 26-28, 25-17, in Ilagan City, Isabela to open the provincial-hopping competition last 8 July.

The Thunderbelles quickly followed it up with a morale-boosting 25-14, 25-20, 25-23, victory over crowd-darling Choco Mucho three days after in Batangas City.

“I’d like to start by saying that I’m happy they’re responding well to the changes, but we still have a lot to work on to,” Yee said.

Taking advantage of the tournament’s all-to-play rule, Yee has been giving his bench the exposure it needs ahead of ZUS Coffee’s pursuit to settle unfinished business following a runner-up finish in last year’s Reinforced Conference.

Yee has also experimented with tweaking player positions with favorable results.

“We’re trying to practice our rotation. We have many new players and positional changes. So, we’d like to practice those and get our players some playing time,” the decorated mentor added.

Recent international exposure for some key Thunderbelles as part of the Strong Group Athletics, who participated in the 2026 Formosa Women’s Volleyball Invitational Tournament in Taiwan, gave Yee’s players valuable experience.

AC Miner, Chinnie Arroyo, Zam Nolasco, libero Alyssa Eroa, Riza Nogales and setter Cloanne Mondonedo were all part of the SGA squad — which also had players from ZUS Coffee’s sister team Farm Fresh — that bagged silver in the short but meaningful tournament.

The Thunderbelles are looking to keep their momentum going as they return to action on Saturday in Santiago, Isabela to face PLDT and shoot to complete a sweep of the preseason.