With their fate in the Women’s Collegiate Conference out of their hands, the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles are pretty much resigned to being eliminated.
At 3-2 in Group A, Ateneo need the 3-1 Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws to drop their final group match against the 1-3 Lyceum Pirates on Monday to get a playoff for the last Final Four spot.
Still, even if a semis berth is highly unlikely, Ateneo team captain Bea De Leon is proud of the fight her team showed in what could have been their final match of the season against the National University.
It was not too long ago that the Lady Eagles were giving the Lady Bulldogs a fight in the PVL Finals. A lot of players from last year are gone, leaving the Lady Eagles scrambling for a new identity.
And De Leon thinks there’s a lot of potential in the current crop of Lady Eagles.
Against an intact NU, Ateneo stayed in the match, even taking a set. For a team with several new starters, Ateneo were not expected to even put up a stand against the Lady Bulldogs.
“I could say it was a pretty good game. Beyond the loss, it showed a lot of our potential because, coming into the league, we knew were very raw. So there was no pressure on us,” De Leon mused.
“I’m very happy with how our team played this season.
“I wouldn’t say I was that surprised that we played well. I always knew that it was in the girls. The whole league we were inconsistent. I always knew naman that we just needed to get there to take it out of all of us,” the fourth-year Lady Eagle pointed out.
“Buti naman it happened at the right time.
Like a lot of other rebuilding teams, earning experience before the UAAP starts early next year is Ateneo’s main priority.
“I think we just need more experience. We’re rebuilding and a lot of us are trying to get into our new positions. Mahaba pa naman before UAAP. Like I said, I think we showed how much potential we have this conference,” added the 21-year-old middle blocker.
For now, De Leon urges her teammates to keep an optimistic view on their performance.
“Honestly, from my perspective, if we focus on the loss, that’s a big negative and it’s sad. But there’s another side to it,” she said. “Out of all the games we played, that was the best played so far and it was against the toughest team.
“It shows a lot of heart also.”
