The De La Salle Lady Spikers made defending champs, Ateneo Lady Eagles bow down last Saturday in Game One of the UAAP Finals.
DLSU was down early in each set but mustered decisive comebacks to take a sweep.
“La Salle prepared for us super well. They really wanted to win and it showed in today’s game,” Ateneo team captain Alyssa Valdez said after the match. Valdez was the lone bright spot in the Ateneo offense, scoring 17 points while her teammates could not reach double-digits.
Valdez conceded their loss to a myriad of factors. The Lady Spikers have been playing with the same core players for nearly five seasons. That experience plus the hunger La Salle developed from their two-year title drought showed in the match, Valdez thought.
“Compared to La Salle, they’re more experienced – they’ve been entering the Finals for so long with the same core players,” Valdez told reporters. “We lacked self confidence and killer instinct in today’s game.”
Valdez’s fellow graduating player, Amy Ahomiro echoed her thoughts. The usually fiery Ahomiro was visibly flustered throughout the match.
“We had no momentum. It’s hard to win when you have no momentum. They (La Salle) were really good. They had killer insinct talaga and they played so much better as a team,” Ahomiro expressed
As the series heads to the SM MoA Arena on Wednesday, the veterans remain positive that their team can bounce back and put up a better fight.
“We just need to play as a team – have confidence in ourselves and each other and believe that what we can do is good enough to win,” Ahmiro said.
“There’s nothing to lose. We’ve been fighting together for five years, sobrang kilala na namin ang isa’t isa. Siguro we just need to enjoy the game, play loose, and have fun,” Valdez closed.
