Heading into Sunday, the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons were hot off the heels of a gritty five-set win over defending champions De La Salle University Lady Spikers.
But the tools they used to get that win were absent when they faced the Ateneo De Manila University Lady Eagles. Billed as the Battle of Katipunan, Ateneo turned the match into a lopsided affair.
UP head coach Godfrey Okumu hinted that their nerves might have stemmed from the droves of UP fans that filled more than half of the sold-out FilOil Flying V Centre.
But the Kenyan tactician emphasized that the loss was mostly on his team, who failed to show up.
“We are so grateful for their support. People came in numbers today. I don’t know if that’s what made us nervous. Sometimes, I was thinking maybe it’s because of the crowd,” said Okumu.
“We tried, but things did not happen as per the plan. You could see we did not play our game. We were… We lost focus, we were not in the game. Our minds were somewhere else. I think with that, I think the result today told us many things.”
Okumu admitted to not knowing what had happened with his team, only that it was clearly a mental issue.
“The only thing I can say as a coach, we don’t take any team for granted. I hoped that we would have fought the same way we fought against La Salle, but the fight wasn’t there in us today. So, I still believe we have a strong team,” the second-year mentor furthered.
“But also, as this shows, the opponent is also strong. As I said, everybody wants to beat UP. I mean, after two off-season championships and the way we are playing, I think everybody wants to have the best out of us.”
