Ateneo de Manila University laid down a marker at the expense of University of the Philippines when it opened its title-retention bid in the UAAP Season 82 Women’s Volleyball Tournament, Wednesday.
Behind the scoring brilliance of Kat Tolentino, Jules Samonte, and Faith Nisperos, the Lady Eagles silenced the Fighting Maroons in straight sets.
It was a perfect prelude of their match against arch-rival De La Salle University on Saturday, March 7, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Still, even with momentum on their side, Lady Eagles head coach Oliver Almadro remains wary of the Ramil De Jesus-mentored Lady Spikers.
“This Saturday na siya, that’s inevitable. Darating at darating, maghaharap at maghaharap,” said Almadro, who lost both of his games against La Salle last season.
“What’s important is we have to be prepared with our mindset sa kanila kasi alam natin na they’re one of the best teams in the UAAP.”
Ateneo has a good blend of seasoned veterans and young talents on board, while La Salle has injected itself with a massive dose of youth to fill up its roster.
In terms of experience, the Lady Eagles have the clear-cut edge. But Almadro is under no illusion that it’ll be much of an advantage versus the green-and-white.
The multi-titled tactician expects the flower of youth to go full bloom over at Taft, believing that La Salle’s eight rookies are capable of making an immediate impact in the collegiate scene since they were handpicked by the cunning De Jesus himself.
“Alam niyo, I don’t know why people are saying na maraming bago, maraming bago. But they’re blue chip recruits eh.
“Ibig sabihin, kahit mga bago, if they are expected to deliver, expected ‘yun,” Almadro pointed out.
Simply put, one must never leave the young Lady Spikers out of account when talking of contenders.
“You will not count them out — they’re recruits. They will not recruit kung ‘di magaling,” the Ateneo tactician then stressed. “So you have to prepare and expect that those players will really deliver.”
La Salle’s fresh crop of recruits is also being nurtured by reliable holdovers such as Aduke Ogunsanya, Michelle Cobb and Tin Tiamzon, who all have a wealthy amount of experience under their belts.
Expectations are therefore high for both teams to perform well in the marquee bout. And Almadro is hoping that his side will be able to perform to the best of their abilities come Saturday.
“People are expecting a lot from us, and their fans are also expecting a lot from them. So we’ll just pray hard and work hard na on Saturday’s game, we’ll have a mindset na makakapag-deliver kami nang tama versus La Salle.”
