Having lost none of their main rotation players from last year, the Adamson University Falcons had looked primed to take UAAP 78 by storm.
But they looked nothing like favorites in their debut match, a horrific straight-sets loss to the NU Bulldogs.
Although NU surrendered a ton of errors, Adamson could not generate enough offense to answer NU’s attack. After losing two close sets, Adamson collapsed in the last frame, barely putting up a fight.
Adamson team captain Michael Sudaria personified his squad’s troubles. The fourth-year opposite hitter managed just three points, struggling to get attacks over NU’s attackers like the rest of his teammates.
Sudaria revealed that he had seen his team’s bad match coming. The team had had a bad practice leading to the match. When they started erring against NU, the Falcons apparently played the blame game.
“Noong mga unang set, okay pa. Noong mga bandang huli, nagkakasamaan na ng loob. Ang kalaban na namin, sarili na namin. Kami-kami na nag-aaway. Hindi na kami nag-uusap,” Sudaria told Tiebreaker Times. “Nag nagrereklamuhan na kami. Kunyari walang receive ‘yung isa, magrereklamo na ‘yung setter, tapos ‘yung spiker magrereklamo na panget daw ‘yung set. Nagkakasiraan na talaga kami,” Sudaria elaborated.
The core Falcons have been together for three years. Sudaria says that this usually doesn’t happen. He adds that aside from feeling pressure to outdo their past finishes, the Falcons had been overconfident.
“Alam namin kaya namin lalo na at alam naming mga bata sila, mga beterano kami. Bandang huli parang kami ‘yung naurungan.”
Sudaria then went on to blame himself. “As a captain mahirap mag-lead ng team kapag ikaw mismo on and off ‘yung laro.”
But the team ironed out their grievances. A known motivator, AdU head coach Domingo Custodio sat his team down in the dugout for nearly an hour after the match to talk things through.
“Sabi nga nila, God has plans. Siguro nangyari talaga ‘to para magkalabasan kami nang sama ng loob. Ayoon talaga ‘yung nagpapabigat sa amin kanina. At least next game wala na kaming sama ng loob, mas magaan na ‘yung lalaruin namin,” Sudaria finished.
The Falcons take on the 0-1 UE Red Warriors on Saturday, February 6, 8 a.m. at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
