Runner-up finish ‘still an achievement’ for Ateneo, says Morente

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Mich Morente feels Ateneo has nothing to be ashamed of despite getting swept by its longtime rival La Salle in the UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball Finals on Saturday night.

Morente said the important thing was the Lady Eagles showed effort and desire to win as they pushed the Lady Spikers to their limits in Game 2.

“We fought hard and we’re all out. Of course, we wanted to win, but we saw that we also had our faults that we need to improve,” said Morente after Ateneo lost in five sets.

READ: La Salle sweeps Ateneo, wins 2nd straight UAAP title

“Even us, we didn’t expect to be back in the finals. I mean nobody expected it. But we’re just really happy now with what we got and it’s still an achievement for us,” she added.

Mordent led Ateneo in scoring with 16 points but La Salle just had too many weapons with Kim Fajardo, Majoy Baron, Kim Dy and Desiree Cheng delivering for the Lady Spikers.

“It all boiled down to who wanted the championship more. La Salle did great and they were awesome. Hands down to them because they also gave it their all and we saw it that they really wanted it,” she said.

Morente said Ateneo should still feel good about its runner-up finish considering that it made another trip to the finals despite losing its superstar Alyssa Valdez to graduation just last season.

“Everybody’s still happy, everybody’s in a good mood, and everybody’s positive. No matter what, we still made the finals and at least we achieved something. We gave them a good fight and being first runner-up isn’t that bad,” she said.