Last Wednesday, the Adamson Lady Falcons suffered a heartbreaking loss to the NU Lady Bulldogs. The loss complicates matters for the Lady Falcons as they are now in a win-or-go-home situation in their match against FEU, while the Lady Bulldogs solidified their spot in the playoffs. Adamson veterans Amanda Villanueva and team captain Faye Guevara shared with us what happened before, during, and after their loss to NU.
Villanueva shared with us what Adamson coach Sherwin Meneses told the team prior to their match against NU.
“Sinabi niya lang na kung gaano ka importante yung game. Kasi if we win it’ll be easier for us to get into the Final Four. Kaso nga pinahirapan namin yung sarili namin, and yung standing namin is nakadepend pa sa ibang team. So mahirap,” shared Villanueva.
Guevara, on the other hand, shared what Coach Meneses told the team after their loss.
“Hindi lang dapat sa umpisa yung tapang. Dapat hanggang huli dapat pinaninindigan namin kung bakit kami naglalaro. Sa last part dun bumigay, dun nawala. Kasi skills wise malakas, pero yung attitude towards the game nawala.”
Despite dropping the first set, Adamson was able to rally back and take the second. They were on the verge of taking a 2-1 set advantage in the third, holding a 24-21 lead over NU. Things took a turn for the worse for the Lady Falcons, who slipped five consecutive points to their opponents, relinquished the set and finished the game in defeat. What went wrong for Adamson during the third set?
“Hindi ko rin alam eh! Pagpalo ko talaga eh. Hindi ko alam. Hindi ko talaga inexpect na magno-not over. Isang palo nalang eh. Tapos sa gitna pa ng net, diba? Dalawang beses pa,” shared Amanda, who committed consecutive errors during the 5-0 NU run.
Meanwhile, Guevara thinks that the team lost trust in themselves during the NU run. “Sobrang sayang, nanghinayang din kami sobra. Wala kami magawa eh, nawalan ng receive tapos loose ball, tapos natakot. Kumbaga, sa sarili namin yung kalaban, hindi yung nangyari. Sa sarili mong desisyon, yun yung nawala. Siguro yung tiwala ng individual sa sarili sarili niya. Kasi tiwala ng teammates nandiyan eh, pero yung tiwala sa sarili mo pag nawala yan hindi ka talaga makakagalaw ng normal,” shared Guevara.
Adamson has been having trouble against the towering teams. They were swept by both DLSU and NU, two of the taller teams in the league. In their match against NU, Jaja Santiago, the league’s tallest player, scored 25 points in four sets against Adamson. Guevara joked about it, but claimed that being small has its advantages as well.
“Wala naman, malalaki kaya nakakapuwing kasi maliliit kami. (laughs) Pero ang advantage naman ng maliit, mabilis. Kumbaga yung term ‘kangkarot’, ganyan-ganyan. Dun kami bumabawi sa bilis ng plays, sa bilis ng defense. Oo malaki siya pero maraming paraan para mastop siya, though hindi ganon kadali. Hindi siya unstoppable,” shared Guevara.
With only one more game to play in the regular season, both Adamson veterans vow to do their best in order to get into the playoffs.
“Siguro kung ano nangyari kanina, it’ll be a lesson to us all. Yung mentality na give your best shot, or it’s all or nothing. Ok naman yung team, sabi namin na babawi kami next game. Wala naman kaming ibang pwedeng gawin kundi bumawi,” said Villanueva.
“Nag-improve na kami. Yung attitude lang talaga yung kailangan ipaglaban towards the end of our UAAP,” shared Guevara.
Adamson’s final regular season game is against FEU, with the loser having to pack their bags as they’ll be eliminated from the tournament.
