‘Evil genius’ Palma uses mind games to throw off Reyes, DLSU

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Just call Remy Palma an evil genius.

During the semifinal match between second seed De La Salle University and third seed Far Eastern University, Palma drew the ire of everyone wearing green.

Palma came up big in FEU’s comeback win against La Salle, 15-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 16-14, with 18 points and some tricks up her sleeve that irritated the Lady Spiker counterpart Mika Reyes and pretty much the whole La Sallian crowd.

Every time Palma went to the service line, a chorus of boos was heard inside Mall of Asia Arena, and the FEU captain loved every note of it.

“Usually, every game naman siguro puro mind games talaga, sino unang mapikon sa kanya na yun,” Palma said Sunday. “Nag enjoy ako sa ginagawa ko, nasa kanila na kung mapipikon sila.”

“Trick ko yun sa laro, mas nakukuha ko kumpyansa sa laro pag ganon.”

With the win, the Lady Tamaraws erased their twice-to-beat disadvantage forcing a do-or-die match with the Lady Spikers on Wednesday.

Palma’s antics seemed to work on Reyes, who finished with 13 points and was seen turning emotional after the loss.

“Sabi ko sa kanila kanina, ‘Oh bakit hindi ka na nagsasalita?’ Parang gusto kong ipakita na Mika Reyes ka, Remy Palma ako kaya kita,” Palma said.

And if one would think that Palma is just being mean, the FEU ace’s quirks are well calculated as she’s putting the lessons she learned in her Psychology course to good use.

She may be graduating academically but she’ll be back for another year in the UAAP to play mind games while studying another course or taking up a Master’s degree.

“Siguro nakakatulong ginagawa ko dun, nagagamit ko course ko,” Palma said laughing. “Mind games, bahala ka, pinagapagana ko mga pinag aralan ko.”