The Adamson University Lady Falcons left their pre-season doubters reeling after their nail-biting win over the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses last Wednesday.
Nearly their entire starting six had to adjust to heavier roles. But the Lady Falcons showed that they could succeed with the pieces they had.
At least until they had to close the match out.
AdU had UST on the ropes for most of the latter three sets but could not deliver the knockout blow. They had leads late in the third and fourth set, but somehow let the Tigresses creep back in. They nearly blew two match points in the fifth set, leading 14-12 before an error and a UST kill forced a deuce. Luckily, the team’s two best scorers, Mylene Paat and Jemma Galanza, came up with huge plays.
New team captain Mylene Paat had a tremendous outing with 19 points and performed valiantly when UST’s servers targeted her.
But she believes that her team may not win many matches if they continue to play the way they did against UST.
“Nababahala ako for the team kasi third set palang, dapat amin na ‘yung match,” Paat said. “Sa pinakita namin kanina, wala pa ‘yun. Mag-eexpect ka pa talaga sa amin after kanina,” she continued when asked if she thought they could make the Final Four.
“Pero kapag nagsama-sama kami, kaya talaga (Final Four). Darating ‘rin kami doon.”
Paat admits that she is also still adjusting to being the team’s leader.
“First time kong kinabahan kanina. Sa past games ko, for UAAP or kahit saan, di ako kinabahan. Ngayon lang talaga. Nasa proseso pa lang din siguro ako ng pag-adjust bilang team captain sa UAAP,” she recalled feeling before the match.
“Ako mismo, as the team captain, dapat ko tibayan ‘yung loob ko. Sabi nga ni coach, ako ‘yung magdadala sa amin sa loob ng court.”
In their upcoming tilt against the National University Lady Bulldogs tomorrow, 2 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena, Paat knows her team cannot simply give away chances.
