UNMATCHED GRIT
It could have been any other team’s day.
Adamson and its top gun, Shaina Nitura, found a way to smooth out their chemistry problems to notch a victory. Far Eastern University and its brave Lady Tamaraws pushed a UAAP women’s volleyball dynasty deeper into a corner than anyone has done before.
But by the time the lights went out at the Mall of Asia Arena, the day ended up belonging to National University.
The defending champions took their biggest challenge in Season 88 so far into their biggest victory—so far—after holding back FEU, 17-25, 16-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-12 victory on Saturday for their third straight victory in the tournament.
Looking winded in the first two sets after playing their third game in the opening week of the season, the Lady Bulldogs rediscovered their grit—and their winning form—to frustrate the Lady Tamaraws.
“I never really doubted the players. I knew they were going to fight until the end because this isn’t the first time this happened,” coach Regine Diego said.
“I kept telling them, this isn’t new. We’re used to this. Let’s get this game.”
That’s exactly what they did.
Struggling to find scoring early, with FEU keeping NU fireball Sam Canatda in check by putting tall blockers consistently in front of her, the Lady Bulldogs found their offense behind playmaker Lams Lamina and hitter Arah Panique to bounce back from a two-set deficit and force the decider.
Once there, the Lady Tamaraws again struck hard, stubbornly forcing the Lady Bulldogs to a four-point hole. But the defending champion showed steely resolve to carve out the come-from-behind triumph.
“I’m really happy because I saw our team slow down in the first two sets and it motivated me to give my best. The team needed me and I knew I needed to step up,” said Panique, who finished with a career-high 27 points, including big ones during the NU comeback.
Adamson triumphs
In the earlier match, Nitura admitted Adamson still has a lot to work on to be on the level of teams like NU or even FEU.
“What we’re working on now is our chemistry,” Nitura said after leading the Lady Falcons to a 25-15, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18 victory over the Lady Red Warriors. “We still commit errors and it highlights [our issues], so we need to go back to training to lessen those simple errors.”
The Falcons looked primed and ready for a sweep against the Lady Warriors, but UE used the third set to expose one of Adamson’s weaknesses.
Nitura sat out that third set, and the Lady Falcons could not find anyone to fill in for her.
“Our game was lacking in the third set,” coach JP Yude said.
“We needed to regroup, but by God’s grace, we got the win … It’s a very important win because in the next games, almost every team we’ll be facing is a heavyweight. We needed to go for that win,” he added.
Nitura and Frances Mordi scored 19 each in the Adamson win. Playmaker Fhaye Sagaysay finished with 10 points built around five aces.
“If we can move forward from that service area, then why not? Somehow, that’s where I was able to contribute so the team can catch the momentum again,” Sagaysay said in Filipino after also registering 15 excellent sets.
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