Ateneo Women's Volleyball Match 5: Falling Down

Falling Down

Ateneo vs. Adamson

14-25, 13-25, 22-25

by rick olivares

Match 5
January 9, 2008
Blue Eagle Gym

It was one of those days. How do you make sense of it much less explain it?

Without a doubt, the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team had a good practice the day before their first match of 2008 against the second running Adamson Lady Falcons. But on a day where they were supposed to put their best foot forward, it didn’t start out right.

Team Captain Karla Bello arrived late for the team’s call time at 830 and athletics officials thought that it was maybe best to bench her since as team captain she knew better than to be tardy for such an important game.

Maybe one can argue that may have distracted the team because they came out somewhat flat. Some opine that it was facing Adamson whom they have not beaten in years. Whatever the reason, the Lady Spikers were getting creamed. And to think they put up a better fight against the defending champions UST. Adamson was on the verge of sweeping Ateneo after taking the first two sets 25-14 and 25-13 when things got worse.

With the team unable to get into a rhythm in the first set, the coaching staff inserted Bello. If the damage was already done no one can say because they had difficulty stringing together points more so on their defense. And maybe Bello should have sat instead for in the third set the fifth year senior went down with an ankle injury. A few minutes later, Bea Pascual, after taking to the air for a twisting spike landed awkwardly and let out a shriek of terrible pain that quieted the gym. It took a few minutes to carry her off the court. With two of their starters down and out for the game (and in Pascual’s case maybe the rest of the season as she was initially diagnosed with an ACL injury), coach Ronald Dulay called for time to gather his bewildered team’s wits. It worked because the team rallied and played harder and nearly took the third set before falling 25-22.

After the game even the Adamson team and table officials came over genuinely concerned about their vanquished opponents.

“Kailangan mag-regroup,” Dulay said to me after the game. He surveyed his bench. He already knew that Pascual’s injury was serious. Any time you cannot walk off the court under your own power it has got to be bad. Who will step up and play the net for blocks and sky for spikes and dinks? He scratched his head. Clearly he had a lot of brain-wracking to do.

It’s hard to fathom these things. Charo Soriano, Patty Taganas, and Bello came back for one last year thinking that they could sneak in an opportunity for one last title drive. And now the fickle hand of fate has put the whole season is in jeopardy. The Blue Babble Battalion even in the face of mournful defeat cheered “defense” and “one big fight.” And in this terrible loss, a sullen tribute of the alma mater. I never liked the emphasis on “win or lose it’s the school we choose” but if I wasn’t busy trying to help the fallen Pascual onto a stretcher, I swear I’d have a tear in my eye.

But these are resilient women. They’ve toiled in anonymity and played to near empty gyms. It might have been a bad day but this just might be the moment where they turn the season around.

Here's to a speedy recovery for Bea Pascual! OBF!