Dani Ravena is not having the best debut for a rookie so far in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament.
She rode the bench in Ateneo’s season opener, a five-set loss to Far Eastern University, and when she finally got the opportunity to play, she became the unfortunate goat as the Lady Eagles lost another five-setter.
Ateneo dropped to 0-2 early in the season after a failed comeback bid against National University, 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 12-25, 15-7 Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Ravena, who was the closing libero, was at the receiving end of the three straight service aces from Jasmine Nabor scored that ended the match.
But Ravena plans to use these shortcomings as a way to get better.
“Coach Tai [Bundit] told me to just stay confident, forget this game, and learn from the mistakes, that happened,” said Dani, the youngest siblings in the brood that has Kiefer as the eldest and Thirdy as the middle.
Ravena, who is just one of the four liberos in Ateneo’s lineup for Season 80, admits she got nervous when Nabor started scoring from the service line.
“Maybe I got nervous there, but that was a learning experience,” said Ravena, who had 10 excellent receptions.
“I did my best but I think we just really came up short, but we promise to make up for it in the next game,” said Ravena in Filipino.