Needing to show up
Ateneo has not had the easiest season in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament—in fact, two of the Blue Eagles’ three wins in Season 86 have come over just two teams.
For coach Sergio Veloso though, what the Blue Eagles need is the confidence to apply lessons learned from previous mistakes—which they have been addressing in practices—to every game as their current campaign continues.
“You need to work hard. But if you [only] work hard and when you play you don’t transfer what you learned here in the match [then nothing will happen],” Veloso had said after his charges pushed undefeated University of Santo Tomas (UST) to the proverbial limit to open their second round campaign last week.
The Blue Eagles still have a shot at a Final Four slot with a 3-6 record after defeating University of the Philippines for the second time this season, 25-14, 25-20, 25-15, Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite losing to the Golden Tigresses, Ateneo took pride pushing Santo Tomas to the wall—and that, Veloso hopes, could be the match that flipped the switch inside his Eagles to finally be confident enough in their push to play past the eliminations.
“We played one of the [strongest] teams. My players showed they can play at the same level. This is so important,” he said.
“I [tell] the team, ‘You need to show in the match what you show me in practice.’ I think everybody can see this team can play at a high level, not only because our team plays very well but the other team played [well], too,” added Veloso, a sentiment that libero captain Roma Mae Doromal echoed.
“During that UST game, we saw (that we can up) our level of play. And it helped us coming into this game,” Doromal said.
Geezel Tsunashima was at her best against the Fighting Maroons, as she led the way for Ateneo with 16 points from 13 attacks and three blocks.
“I am embracing my role as a contributor to the team more. I want to help Lyann [de Guzman] and Sophie [Buena]. My mindset is to be confident [with the] trust of my teammates,” said Tsunashima, who also showed her offense against Santo Tomas.
Buena also ended up in the twin digits with her 10 points on eight attacks and two aces. De Guzman, who has been Ateneo’s main scorer, managed eight points like middle blocker AC Miner.
“Now, everybody can see how the Ateneo team plays, the level they play no matter [who is] the opponent. We try to do our best all the time, that is the most important,” Veloso said after the Eagles ripped the Maroons in the attacking department, 41-25.
“I feel like we have embraced each of our roles more,” Doromal said. “This is what we have training for, but which we have been struggling to apply into our games.
“But this is it, this is the real Ateneo … and we are excited to show our talents more.” INQ
