Ateneo Blue Eagles’ Sobe Buena in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Sobe Buena was a revelation for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in their first win in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament.
Buena unleashed 18 points with an efficient 50-percent spiking rate to help Ateneo fight back from two sets down and overwhelm the University of the Philippines, 22-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-9, on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The young wing spiker deflected the credit to her teammates, believing she wouldn’t be able to hit 18 of her 36 attack attempts without them.
SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 86 volleyball first round
“I’m just really grateful for my teammates. This was definitely a team effort. I couldn’t have done that without them. All credit goes to them because we didn’t give up until we got the win,” said Buena in Filipino.
Buena joined hands with Lyann De Guzman, who had a career-high 24 points on top of 18 excellent receptions and 11 digs, in delivering the finishing blows in the fifth set to give Ateneo coach Sergio Veloso their first win and beat their former coach Oliver Almadro.
“Coach Sergio said just keep playing. My mindset was to just leave it out all on the court and give my all in the fifth set since it’s the end game,” she said. “Coach always emphasizes that you have to finish strong and just always give our 100% on the court and that’s just what I did.”
READ: UAAP volleyball: Lyann De Guzman delivers for Ateneo against their former coach
Ateneo, which missed the Final Four last season and lost stars Faith Nisperos and Vanie Gandler, snapped a six-game skid — including four consecutive defeats last year.
Buena, who had 16 points in their gallant stand against National University before losing in five sets, said the rebuilding squad is starting to find their groove.
“We’re starting to become more confident inside the court and that’s really important, especially going onto the next few games. I think we’ll just keep training and keep doing our best inside the court and just keep trusting each other and enjoy the game,” Sobe Buena said.
As she plays her first Ateneo-La Salle game with a major role for the Blue Eagles on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena, Buena hopes to sustain her fine form.
“I think it’s important that we stick to the system and that we’re able to enjoy and trust each other inside the court because I think in today’s game that was really important. I think if we can do that against La Salle, we’ll be able to play well against them,” she said.