NU Lady Bulldogs’ Vange Alinsug. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Despite absorbing a straight-set loss to rampaging La Salle, Vange Alinsug showed she is always ready to deliver for National University as she filled in the big shoes of team captain Princess Robles, who played sparingly due to a swollen knee.
The rookie spiker made her first start for NU, stepping up with 14 points but only for the Lady Bulldogs to suffer a 24-26, 24-26, 16-25 loss to the unbeaten Lady Spikers in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday at Philsports Arena.
“Wala si Manang (Robles) kaya kailangan ko mag-step up,” said Alinsug, who nailed 12 attacks and two blocks on top of seven excellent receptions.
“Alam naming may kulang pa pero alam din po naming lumaban kami. Kaya sa susunod pa pong laro mas dodoblehin pa po namin para makuha pa namin yung goal namin,” she added.
([Princess] saw limited action so I had to step up. We know that we had a lot of shortcomings in the game but we still fought. Next time, we will double our effort for us to reach our goal.)
NU coach Karl Dimaculangan said they reduced the role of Robles from spiker to service specialist due to her injuey, which they will have checked on Monday.
“Early this morning she was crying. She can play but we can’t sacrifice [her health] just for this game. We’re thinking of the latter part of the season. That’s why we limited her playing time,” Dimaculangan said in Filipino. “We don’t know yet if it’s just a minor injury. She will undergo a check-up on Monday so the doctor will be able to assess what’s the problem with her knee.”
Dimaculangan lauded Alinsug for filling in the gap left by the reigning Finals MVP.
“We really expect her to perform because she’s been doing well in practice. The difference is she started in the absence of Princess. So far, so good for Vangie,” said Dimaculangan.
Alinsug said they were able to make the adjustments after losing in the first round but they still came up short and suffered their second loss in a span of four days.
“We were able to show the adjustments we made in practice but we still lack a lot of things but we will bounce back from this,” said Alinsug in Filipino. “We need to lessen our error, especially me. We have a week to train.”
NU, which holds a 5-3 record, hopes to bounce back against struggling University of the Philippines (1-7) on Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.