As the Adamson University Lady Falcons hit service ace after service ace on Wednesday afternoon, grimaces and frustrated head shakes were shared on the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons’ side of the court. In just a snap, the Lady Falcons bagged the first set without even letting the Lady Maroons reach double digits, 25-9.
With eight service aces only in the opening canto, clearly, defense is a struggle for the Lady Maroons.
According to UP head coach Godfrey Okumu, that terrible start set the tone for UP’s performance the whole game.
“The first set was really a big deal for me as a coach because that’s how the game started. If you start well, you play well all through,” Okumu regretfully recalled.
“But if you start in a shaky way, the way we were shaking, then that’s how we get the results.”
Lady Maroons skipper Tots Carlos also expressed how they had lost their confidence in that opening set.
“As you can see, nag-serve lang naman ang kalaban.
“So, ayun. First ball talaga. Actually, di lang naman first ball eh. Hindi kami kumpiyansa,” added Carlos, who was the lone bright spot in the roster with 12 points.
Adamson’s hitters were already a pain for UP. Add the error bug, and they continued to create setbacks for themselves.
The Lady Maroons gave up crucial points in the important moments of the next two sets.
Isa Molde committed an attack error in the second set when they still had every chance to bag it, giving it up for the Falcons, 27-25. In the third set, UP failed again to answer Mylene Paat’s services, allowing their opponents to inch away little by little. And just as they started the game, they ended it with another attack error when Marian Buitre failed to cross her spike, sealing the match, 25-20.
“The loss was not good, we played not so well. We had a plan, did not work.
“In the first set, we just let go but we were able to recover in the second set and the third set as well. We were able to push but I think it was little too much too late in our fighting,” the first year coach shared.
Inside the UP dugout, a lengthy post game that lasted more than an hour ensued. Okumu shared that he had simply wanted his team to regroup and refresh, especially since they only have three days before their next assignment versus the highly-touted Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws.
“We were just talking about our way forward. I’m trying to bring the team together, why we lost, what we should have done better, and way forward. We have a game on Saturday so we have to really think on what was wrong so that we don’t start that way [again],” he assured.
“I believe that by Saturday we [will] have adjusted.”
