MANILA, Philippines — For the second time in the UAAP Season 79 women's volleyball tournament, the Ateneo Lady Eagles lost to National University, this time in a gritty five-set thriller in which they squandered a spectacular service game.
Despite tallying 20 aces against an NU team that played without a libero for most of the match, the Lady Eagles saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end as the Lady Bulldogs hacked out a 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-1, 15-13. Jaja Santiago dominated Ateneo anew, scoring 25 points which included eight kill blocks.
The loss marked the end of a grueling stretch that saw the Lady Eagles play four games in 12 days — all against Final 4 contenders — which also coincided with Ateneo's midterm week. After the game, the Ateneo players admitted being exhausted, though they insist it is just one of many factors that led to the loss.
"Exam week pa talaga ngayon. Sabi nga namin kanina noong fifth set, kaunti na lang, malalampasan na natin 'yung four-game straight natin na laro," he added. "Kaso ayun nga, natalo."
[They were exhausted, and it's also a five-set match. The players were already dealing with some pains because we didn't stop training, and we didn't stop playing. Moreover, it's exam week in Ateneo. So in the fifth set, we told them that we just need to hold on, and then we'll have gotten past our four-game stretch. Unfortunately, we lost.]
Jhoana Maraguinot, whose 10th attack error of the game handed NU the victory, admitted that fatigue was a factor in her subpar performance, wherein she connected on only 14 of 41 attempts.
"Mahirap, as in mahirap," she said of the schedule. "Kasi sumabay sa midterms namin, so parang 'yung iba sa amin, hindi nakaka-training. Pagdating sa training, pagod ka, after training mag-aaral ka."
"Ayun, nakakapagod lang. Kulang talaga 'yung time to rest," she admitted. "Hindi naman kami maka-tigil sa training, kasi sunod-sunod 'yung games eh."
[It's very difficult. It coincided with our midterms, so some of us couldn't train. When we arrive at the gym, we're tired, and then after training, we have to study. So it's exhausting, and we don't have enough time to rest. But we can't stop because we have to play.]
Ateneo middle blocker Bea de Leon, however, makes it clear that their exhaustion should not be an excuse for the loss.
"That (the schedule) was hard. I'm so exhausted. (But) you can never make it an actual excuse. It was a factor, a pretty big factor," she said. "We haven't done weights in a while which has affected the power of our spikes. But, in the end, it's always about pushing yourself."
Last Saturday the Lady Eagles were able to power past their own exhaustion to outlast Far Eastern University in a five-set battle. This time around, however, they lacked the finishing kick.
Nevertheless, Ateneo coach Tai Bundit praised his players following the game, because this time around, they pushed NU to five sets. When they played in the first round, the Lady Bulldogs won in four.
"Hindi naman sobrang down kasi sabi niya at least lumaban pa rin naman kami, and nakita ko naman na talagang kumapit pa rin naman talaga kami," said Maraguinot.
[We're not down on ourselves, because we fought hard.]
"We were never after the winning streak," de Leon also said. "It was not our goal. Personally, I don't take losses too much because right after, you have to bounce back immediately and take things in a positive light."
De Leon is confident that the Lady Eagles will have no issues bouncing back, even though they will have only three days' rest before playing the Lady Falcons.
"We'll see it through," she promised. "Kami pa."
(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)
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