Kyle Atienza said she felt “overwhelmed” after FEU entered the semifinals of the 2016 Philippine Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup following a win over Standard Insurance-Navy A last Sunday.
FEU got off to a sloppy start and dropped the first set to Navy A’s Norie Jane Diaz and Pau Soriano in their quarter-finals battle, but were able to bounce back to score a 13-21, 22-20, 15-10 victory.
“Noong first set, na-down na po kami, sobrang galing din ng kalaban namin, pero noong second set inisip na lang namin pano kami makakabawi and pano namin ile-lessen ang errors namin,” Atienza said after the match. “Overwhelmed din dahil nanalo kami.”
“Nung first set, ang panget talaga ng galaw namin. So pagkatapos nun sabi na lang namin, hindi pa natatapos. Hindi pa sila nananalo,” Bernadeth Pons added.
“Sobrang laking bagay kasi laglagan yun, kapag natalo, wala na. Ngayon na-extend pa mga laro namin. Noong second set, nag-adjust kami, maganda naman kinalabasan.”
FEU joined the competition primarily for exposure and to aid them for future tournaments, but the duo didn’t expect to reach a level as far as the semi-finals.
“Kaya rin kami sumali dito is para mag-gain ng experience. Malaking bagay yung lessons tsaka paano namin i-a-adjust mga galaw namin sa mga susunod na liga. Binibigyan kami ng exposure,” Atienza added.
But with a chance to take the crown, the duo is banking on endurance to get the job done.
“Yung endurance namin, kasi kami ang isa sa youngest team namin. Tsaka yung diskarte sa loob dahil dito rin naman kami nag-eensayo,” Pons said. “Sa isang linggo, nagte-training kami sa buhangin mga four times a week.”
Photos by Roman Prospero (PSL Images)
