Ateneo de Manila University left many fans surprised when they sported long-sleeved jerseys during their UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament debut against University of the East on Saturday night.
As it turns out, the entire situation was actually just misunderstanding.
According to the UAAP, Ateneo initially requested for long-sleeved jerseys like what NCAA teams in the United States do. However, it was not allowed under FIVB rules.
With just three days before their opening game, the UAAP gave them a leeway.
Ateneo was given a week to address the situation and replace their jerseys.
The school will start cutting the jerseys on Monday.
Despite their efforts, the Blue Eagles eventually lost the match, falling in four sets to the Casiey Dongallo-led UE, 20-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18.
It gave Sergio Veloso a nightmare debut as it was also Ateneo’s first loss to UE in 14 years.
Lyann De Guzman, who scored a team-high 19 points in the loss, mentioned that the team must be more consistent moving forward if they want to avoid a repeat of the same result against UE.
“For me, siguro consistency pa, especially in Coach’s system, we need to stick more, especially towards the end. We saw earlier that the game was really close, but towards the end, that’s where we deviate from Coach’s system,” said De Guzman.
“Confidence is also crucial, especially when they take the lead; that’s when we tend to lose momentum,” she added.
Ateneo will face National University next Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at the same venue. And by then, the Blue Eagles will be back wearing their short sleeves.
