The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles were sorely outplayed in Game One of the UAAP Season 79 Women’s Volleyball Finals, and they knew it
Ateneo’s energetic middle blocker Bea De Leon saw the match as one of Ateneo’s poorer games this season. Prior to Game One, the Lady Eagles had lost just two games and had not lost a game to the De La Salle University .
If anything, Ateneo’s mistakes were mental, according to the 20-year-old spiker. These are mistakes that happened due to the pressure brought about by the Finals.
“More than anything, I think my teammates did well. I think it’s just minor details that we have to work on. But in totality it wasn’t the worst game we played. We’ll bounce back that’s for sure,” said the third year attacker.
“It’s a lost. We’re a bit down but we’re still hopeful. it’s not over, it’s just game one. We know we can do it with the past games with La Salle so definitely we’ll come back to training tomorrow, work a lot harder and on Saturday babawi kami.”
De Leon also denied that the officiating had played a major factor in the game.
“Breaks of the game, you really can’t do anything about it. You’ll never able to blame it solely. It’s a test of character when it come to that so with “bad calls” as coach will always tell us it’s irreversible practically so why bother. So bawi na lang,” the resident of Marikina City expressed.
“It’s not the worst possible time. We didn’t lose the championship, that’s the worst possible time. But the mantra of this team is heart strong and we’ll live up to that name. It’s not over, it’s Game One, it’s best of three. On Saturday, we’ll meet again and we’ll get there.”
And the Lady Eagles have no margin for error on Saturday, as their backs are against the wall.
