It’s been Ateneo’s problem all season, and La Salle took full advantage of the Lady Eagles’ serve reception.
The Lady Eagles, ranked seventh in serve receive before today’s game, gave up 16 aces against La Salle, torpedoeing them to a four-set loss.
Senior middle blocker Bea De Leon rued her team’s struggle with passing.
“Sobrang clear naman, it was just the receive.
“How many aces did they have? (Someone answers 16) O, tignan mo? Sabi nga ni coach Sherwin (Meneses) that our score isn’t too low. Kayang-kaya. Wala, receive lang talaga. Gave away four points per set,” De Leon, who tallied 11 points against La Salle, said.
The Lady Eagles were severly hampered by the absence of starting libero Dani Ravena, chimed team captain Maddie Madayag.
Ravena, the league’s 10th best receiver, missed the game due to appendicitis.
“Receives, obviously [was our problem]. Wala si Dani, Crucial player, kahit rookie palang siya, sobrang kita naman wala talagang receive so ayun,” Madayag added.
Both Madayag and De Leon are midddle blockers and could only watch as their teammates struggle with their back-row duties.
“I almost received kanina. Coach Sherwin asked me. Wala, ganoon talaga,” De Leon quipped. “My position is very dependent on good passes, good sets. So it’s a bit frustrating because all you can really do is try to lift them up with your words, your encouragement. It’s takes twice as much energy to pump yourself and your teammates up.
“Sticking to the positives, we’ll bounce back.”
Madayag adds that she and De Leon just try to pull their weight in areas they can control.
“Di naman helpless [kami ni Bea] kasi kung hindi naman kami makapalo ni Bea, at least nababawi naman namin sa blocking,” Madayag echoed.
Nevertheless, the Lady Eagles are taking this as just another loss and looking at the positives as they finish the first round at 4-3.
“Back to training I guess.
“We talked kanina and, yeah, alam naman namin yung mga pagkukulang namin. Babalik kami sa training tapos aayusin namin ‘yung mga kailangan ayusin,” closed Madayag.
