The San Sebastian Lady Stags have found themselves in the exact same situation as they were a year ago.
Last season’s runners-up once again swept the elimination round, arming themselves with a thrice-to-beat advantage in the Finals — which was nothing short of a surprise.
What happened in the Game 1 of the title series, however, was nothing sort of a shock, as the Arellano Lady Chiefs dumped the Red and Gold in three sets, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16 to turn the Finals series into a virtual best-of-three.
Fifth-year spiker Gretchel Soltones was at a loss for words after yet another Game One meltdown that was eerily similar to what happened to them a year ago.
“Hindi ko rin alam eh,” she mustered.
“Siguro dapat matuto na naman kami sa nangyari ngayon. Kasi last year, we lost the first game eh.”
The memories of a season ago still linger in the mind of the 21-year-old. The horrors of that defeat from the Saint Benilde Lady Blazers seemed to haunt them even more as Game One progressed.
On her part, the reigning MVP finished the game with 15 points, all coming from attacks. However, the Lady Stags committed 30 errors and had no blocks, as the Lady Stags lambasted both their net and floor defense.
But even after another Game One meltdown, Soltones and the rest of her team know that they need to shrug off the result and just push forward.
“Siguro we’ll do the best na lang that we could in the next game,” the Cebuana vowed. “Magaling sila [Arellano Lady Chiefs] ngayon. Kulang namin is depensa at yung service.
“Siguro medyo magulo lang kami ngayon.”
