Sea of yellow inside Smart Araneta Coliseum for the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball Finals Game 1 between UST Tigresses and the NU LAdy Bulldogs. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—In a crowd majorly occupied by a sea of Yellow, the minority won.
The Araneta Coliseum was home to over 20,000 spectators Saturday night to witness the clash between University of Santo Tomas and National University in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball Finals.
The predominantly UST crowd was hard to miss with the Big Dome three-fourths filled by fans wearing yellow in solidarity with the Golden Tigresses.
But it wasn’t like NU’s crowd was any joke either with its own thunderous cheers and jeers, but the Thomasian crowd simply outnumbered the Lady Bulldogs faithful.
Fans of NU Lady Bulldogs during Game 1 of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball Finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
But that didn’t faze the fans from Sampaloc, though, as they gave their all to help push the Lady Bulldogs on the brink of their second women’s championship in three years.
“Even if we were outnumbered, we were very happy,” said Alyssa Solomon, who led NU with 17 points on Saturday.
READ: NU Lady Bulldogs dominate UST Tigresses in UAAP Finals Game 1
“There were still a lot of NU fans who attended even if that UST crowd ate us up. But the team just composed ourselves on how to communicate to make our jobs easier,” she added.
Even Bella Belen had a hard time going for her 13 points with the crowd rocking her psyche every time she went up for a service, so she appreciated more the love from NU’s own blue army.
Alyssa Solomon leads the NU Lady Bulldogs to a Game 1 win over the UST Tigresses in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball Finals Game 1. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIREr.net
“We’re very happy because our fans were able to match that UST crowd that made Araneta look like the QPav. It looked like the QPav, right?” said Belen, referring to UST’s home floor the Quadricentennial Pavilion.
UAAP SCHEDULE: Season 86 volleyball Finals UST vs NU
While Game 2 may look like a home-court advantage for NU at Mall of Asia Arena, but UST may very well still have the upper hand in crowd count.
Still, Solomon is hoping that her fellow Nationalians come out and cheer on the Lady Bulldogs in the game that may bring the crown back to their school’s cabinet.
“They said NU’s crowd can fill up half of the MOA Arena so hopefully that happens. I’m just happy for us because we’re playing for them and we know that while we’re competing, they’re behind us to cheer.”