UAAP: Hard-fighting Ateneo sees light at end of first round
Eagles stars Lyann De Guzman (left) and AC Miner find a reason to cheer. —UAAP MEDIA
The challenges keep knocking down Ateneo in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament.
And the Blue Eagles keep getting up.
“At first, [facing everything that happened] was really difficult because I saw that this season, our team was supposed to be strong,” captain Lyann de Guzman said in Filipino. “But of course, there are things that we didn’t expect to happen.”
SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 87 volleyball tournament first round
De Guzman had higher expectations for the team, which has been weighed down by injuries and tight losses.
“But like what I told them, we need to keep on fighting because we won’t lose anything this season if we do that. We just need to give our 110 percent every game and the wins will follow,” De Guzman added.
And that’s exactly what Ateneo did as it ended the first round with its second win in seven games via a hard-fought 20-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-15, 15-13 marathon match against University of the East on Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Injuries galore
The Blue Eagles were downsized to just 11 players now. Jlo delos Santos suffered a season-ending injury a few days before the start of the tournament, Zel Tsunashima was lost to a left leg injury in their opening game loss to Adamson and, most recently, Sobe Buena was struck down by torn right anterior and medial collateral ligaments.
And the remaining cogs of coach Sergio Veloso not only understand the tremendous responsibility suddenly placed on their shoulders—they are also willing to fill in the void left by their teammates.
“[For example,] AC [Miner], she is a middle [blocker but sometimes] I need to put her in the opposite [and she plays both roles really good],” Veloso said of his talented fourth-year ward who finished with 23 points.
“Our team needs this situation now … And [Zey] Pacia’s the same. Last season, Pacia was a middle and … the same as Yvana [Sulit]. Yvana, in the last two weeks I started to work with [her] in the opposite, too, because I need to [have] more options … and I am so proud because they understand this and congrats because I know it’s hard,” the Brazilian mentor explained.
De Guzman and Pacia contributed much-needed contributions with 17 points apiece. They also did their share of floor-coverage work. Taks Fujimoto orchestrated the offense with 24 excellent sets and squeezed out 10 points from Jihan Chuatico.
Ateneo resides at seventh, just above the winless Lady Warriors. And if it wants to come close to its fifth-place finish last season or even break into the Final Four, the Blue Eagles will need to get up more often in the second round.
“As I told [them] in our first meeting, this season is a strong season … We fight all the time. When you think all teams can jump [up the rankings] next round, [we will also] fight all the time to get this position,” Veloso said.
“Ending this round at 2-5, next round we are more determined to add to our wins since we had close games from our losses so we’re really motivated to the next round and we’ll give it our all because it’s all or nothing,” Miner said.
