A season of frustration, bickering, and lessons has finally paid off for the young Adamson University Lady Falcons.
After failing in 20 straight games, the Lady Falcons finally gave first-year head coach Airess Padda her first win, taking a 25-15, 25-19, 25-15 win over tormentors University of the East Lady Warriors, Wednesday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
“Finally! I’ve never been in here,” shared Padda, who appeared lost for words. “I mean it feels good. It’s just… Damn! We needed this one. We told the girls, ‘what’s better 0-14 or 1-13?’ They just wanted it more.”
With the win, Adamson have leapfrogged UE in the standings. Even if both teams sport twin 1-13 records, the Lady Falcons’ three-set win helped them end the season at seventh place.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be this easy. Going into this game, we knew that it was going to be a dog fight. But as soon as we came out, the girls were really controlling the game, they finally clicked,” Padda enthused.
Jema Galanza towed Adamson with 15 markers, 13 of it coming from attacks, to go along with 18 digs and 12 receptions. But it was not just Galanza who steered the team to victory.
“They were sharing the load. Jema didn’t have to do everything by herself. Joy [Dacoron] was good and [Bernadette] Flora as well,” the American mentor remarked.
“Di ko ma-explain. Nakita ko talagang gusto nilang manalo. Sabi nga ni coach, ibalik na lang natin yung suportang binibigay sa atin ng school,” Galanza added.
After cruising through the first two sets, the Lady Falcons led by as much as 10 points in the third set. As they neared match point, Padda continued to push her troops, “We have three points to go, you can do it!,” she said in one of her timeouts with the scoreline at 22-14.
An exchange of attack errors from both sides was followed by a Dacoron attack. A mis-hit by Juliet Cadindig gave Adamson that elusive win they have been looking for for two years.
“All of our hard work we’ve been putting in for the last nine months showed. It wasn’t about proving to anyone else that we were good enough,” Padda declared. “I don’t think we went to this game wanting to beat UE because we were better than them, we wanted to win because we deserved it.”
Shaya Adorador paced UE with nine markers. But her team committed a total of 30 errors compared to just 20 for Adamson.
UE finished the season at last place, while coach Francis Vicente falls to a 2-40 record in his three-year stay in Recto.
The Scores:
AdU (3) – Galanza 15, Dacoron 10, Flora 7, Joaquin 6, Dahab 6, Caole 1, Matias 0, Mohammad 0, Ponce (L).
UE (0) – Adorador 9, Alcayde 3, Dacaymat 3, Mendrez 3, Gabarda 3, Abil 2, Bendong 2, Baliton 2, Catindig 2, Rodriguez 1, Baliton 1, Arado (L)
