“Damn! We needed this one.”
The Adamson University Lady Falcons stood silent, motionless, as Juliet Catindig sent a hit straight to the net.
Adamson had finally won their first match of Season 79. Adamson had won their only match of the season. It had been a long time since the Lady Falcons won a match that they had seemingly forgotten the feeling.
It was a different story on the Adamson bench. Airess Padda, the Lady Falcons’ first-year head coach, smiled, laughed, and turned to her assistant coaches, handing out high-fives to the UAAP’s first-ever all-woman coaching staff.
As the Lady Falcons were on the brink of a winless season, they mustered the game for their lives against the University of the East Lady Warriors.
It was Padda’s first time in the press room for a winning coach’s media address and she gave a compelling speech.
The California native spoke of creating moments. She recalled asking each of her players for their favorite moment of the past 10 months. Today, she wanted everyone to share in one positive moment.
“We told the girls, ‘What sounds better, 0-14 or 1-13?’ That one, I know it might not sound like much, but the one was equivalent to like ten for us, because we just wanted it so badly for them,” Padda shared.
“I wanted to give them a chance to really see all the positive things that have been growing with our team. It’s so hard to go through a losing season and not see the seeds that we’re planting,” the American mentor added.
“Today was a chance for them to actually create one more big moment, memorable moment for our season, that we can remember as kind of like building the foundation for our team. That’s what this season was about. It was about building a strong foundation, and I think us ending on a win today just kind of sealed the deal for the foundation.”
During her first nine months in the office, the Lady Falcons have seen themselves struggle, hardly finding familiarity on and off the court. Moreover, there were times that even Padda showed frustration. But wanting to build on something for next season, they needed Wednesday’s game.
“We wanted to win this because I think we deserved it. I’m proud of them.
“The coaches are really proud. The only way to repay your coach back is by going out there and actually performing and doing all the things that we teach them, and today… It took us 13 games, but we finally got it together,” she reflected.
Another rallying call for the Lady Falcons, according to Padda, was that this match might be the last stand for several of her players.
Having lost several players last year, Adamson had to rebuild and bring in Team B players to fill up the team this season. Those players might not make the Season 80 lineup, as Padda wants to work on her new recruits. She also hinted that several Adamson seniors on the sidelines might make a comeback for next season.
“I think our biggest battle going to next season is now that we will have competitive players, the expectation is gonna be there, the expectation to win, the expectation for them to come in and perform as best as they can,” said Padda.
“I think, this season, being on the B Team for them, our focus has been really on the A Team. So now, it will be nice to switch our focus to our B Team and kind of get them going. They’re hungry, it’s not done,” she added.
“They’re not gonna come in here and we’re magically gonna hit the Final 4 next year. There’s a lot of work to be done, but we’re really excited, very, very excited. We have some returners coming back, you know, setter, another middle, opposite. It’s just going to make our team stronger, so we’re excited.”
The skies were cloudy at first for the Lady Falcons. They fly out of Season 79 with a better view of what lies ahead.
