UP Lady Maroons. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—University of the Philippines had the chance to claim sole possession of first place in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament when it faced Ateneo Sunday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Lady Maroons entered the game against the Lady Eagles with so much anticipation but instead of reaching the top, they floundered down to the lower half of the league.
Ateneo, which entered the game tied with UP at 3-1, wound up taking sole ownership of the top spot after a resounding, 25-21, 25-15, 28-26, giving the Lady Eagles a 4-1 record.
UP star Isa Molde, who was limited to just six points, rued her team’s lack of mental fortitude against the Lady Eagles who showed that they wanted the win more than the Lady Maroons.
“The problem is the team’s mental toughness and that’s, what I think, was missing from us,” said Molde in Filipino.
UP showed a semblance of fight in the third set when it went tit-for-tat with Ateneo but Deanna Wong ended the Lady Maroons’ persistence with a well-placed kill.
Molde, who’s averaging 16.8 points heading into the game, added her team just couldn’t hold on and eventually gave in against the Lady Eagles.
“I think we fell short and I guess Ateneo wanted this more than us,” said Molde, whose Lady Maroons dropped to fifth spot in the standings.
Molde also said that they can’t let the losses affect their emotions and they know that they have to win their remaining two games in order to get momentum entering the second round.
“The coaches always tell us that we shouldn’t feel sorry for ourselves because if we let our morale down in the next two games it would be harder for us to bounce back,” said Molde.
“They told us to just forget about this loss and we have to recover for our next match.”