4 points from UAAP Women’s Volleyball: A big win by UP, UST’s bad luck, Adamson’s must win and an ugly win by Ateneo

4 points from UAAP Women’s Volleyball: A big win by UP, UST’s bad luck, Adamson’s must win and an ugly win by Ateneo

by rick olivares

A win that ensures there will be a Final Four (UP’s five set win against DLSU – 21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 15-12), a crippling injury that could threaten to send the season on a tailspin (Milena Alessandrini), and must win (Adamson prevailing against NU in three sets), and an ugly win (Ateneo’s three-set triumph over UE).

That was the UAAP women’s volleyball weekend in a nutshell.

Let’s break it down into our thoughts.

A big and gritty win by UP

I thought that UP got the job done with defense – by blocking at the net and limiting the output of Desiree Cheng, and terrific floor coverage. Hindi nga mapatay ng La Salle ang bola. If the wing players were being stopped, La Salle couldn’t deal with Tots Carlos and Aei Gannaban late in the game. 

The girls in green thrive when they take a lead and are scoring with aplomb. You stick with them step-by-step and give as good as you get, the seeds of doubt plant themselves. 

La Salle had a nice first set, but once UP tightened their defense, that turned everything around. The Lady Fighting Maroons didn’t lose their nerve. Even when La Salle was coming back (the fourth set), it was obvious that they weren’t going to let this slip away.

We’ve seen this before… the Lady Fighting Maroons – yes, this bunch – get a win over La Salle or Ateneo. And impressive fashion, I might add. The trick is to do it again. 

As for La Salle, we’ve seen this before… even with some of these players. They played spottily against Adamson and NU in the past two games. When they ran into a mentally tough veteran UP team, they unraveled. Of course, we’ve seen this before and they have always bounced back.

UST can’t seem to catch a break.

It seems that where Milena Alessandrini goes, UST goes. When she got hurt last season, the Golden Tigresses’ fortunes soured. Yes, even during her rookie year it was obvious the Fil-Italian was going to be a force. 

In this game against FEU, she was having a so-so performance. Yet she was there and UST was leading. When she went down following an awkward landing, it was such a disheartening feeling. And unfortunately, try as they did, Alessandrini’s injury took something out of UST. They fell in four sets.

Remember they already lost Tin Francisco in the pre-season to an injury. 

You have to feel for Kung-Fu Reyes and his girls. They finally have all the weapons in place to compete then this happens. But there’s a long ways to go. How they respond to this especially in their next match will tell on their fortunes for the season.

On that Adamson-NU match

And speaking of a team that lost a crucial piece, NU is trying to get by after losing setter Joyme Cagande. Now the losses of Jasmin Nabor, Risa Sato, Jorelle Singh, and Roma Doromal really hurt. Imagine if they still had them in uniform. 

I will not give too much credit to Adamson for their win. They should win seeing as they are playing against a team of 10 players with seven rookies. Mahiya naman sila kung matalo pa. 

In a short season, I am skeptical of coaching changes, but maybe that shocking loss to UE was the last straw for them. Maybe they are hoping that players can stop making excuses and stand up for themselves. It did work for UE last season, so maybe it could for Adamson. Nevertheless, good luck to them.

It was an ugly win for Ateneo, but it is a win.

It is a three set win by Ateneo but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Am I suprised that Ateneo struggled against UE? Just a bit. Yes, UE has a better team, but still, the talent level and championship experience is different so Ateneo should get this.

UE has gotten better since last season. The Lady Red Warriors have talent make no doubt. They have the veterans and some talented newbies. We saw them defeat Adamson that ended Airess Padda’s stint in San Marcelino. The Lady Red Warriors can make serious inroads this season if they can play with consistency and limit their errors. 

If UE didn’t shoot themselves in the foot for all their unforced errors in the first two sets, who knows? Maybe this would have gone on to one more set, maybe the full length. Maybe if Mean Mendrez played a lot earlier, she could have helped. Could have. 

I figure UE, will pick up some more wins along the way.

It seems that Katrina Tolentino is the only one showing any consistency for Ateneo. And oh, Jules Samonte who has come up once more. And after the opening day loss to La Salle, Maddie Madayag has elevated her game. 

For Oliver Almadro’s team to make serious inroads, they will need more from Bea De Leon and Ponggay Gaston.