Last Monday, one of the most shocking upsets in Shakey’s V-League history happened, as the little-known Technological Institute Philippines Lady Engineers escaped the celebrated Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles in five sets at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The match was Michelle Morente’s first match back for the Lady Eagles, as she had sat out one year due to academic deficiencies.
“I was nervous actually. After a year of not playing, finally ito na. I can come back na and play official games with Ateneo,” Morente quipped.
The skilled winger used everything in her arsenal, scoring 16 points, but still couldn’t pull the Lady Eagles — who had been playing for the first time without graduated three-time UAAP MVP Alyssa Valdez, while Jho Maraguinot and Bea De Leon were still recovering from injuries — out of a rut.
“Alam naman namin ‘yung gagawin namin. I guess di lang naman nadala sa game.”
“It’s our first game din and karamihan sa amin bata pa. Siguro we just need to gel as a team pa,” Morente told Tiebreaker Times after the match.
“Okay lang naman matalo kasi it’s still experience for us. Marami pang wala so I think everyone just needs to be patient with the team and there are a lot more things we need to improve,” she continued.
Morente also wants fans to be patient with her, as she has only been training full time with the team since June. Getting back to the shape she was in when she had played crucial minutes for Ateneo in their back-to-back title runs will take time.
“Personally, I still have a long way to go. I felt that I could have done more out there.”
“There’s still room for improvement and I’m just going to work towards improving myself so I can help the team better,” she concluded.
Ateneo next take on the San Sebastian College of Recoletos Lady Stags on Saturday at the PhilSports Arena.
