Lady Eagles not ready to sing the blues

MANILA, Philippines - Coach Roger Gorayeb looks at the predicament the Ateneo Lady Eagles had found themselves in after blowing what had seemed to be a won game against rival La Salle in the opener of their blockbuster showdown for the UAAP Season 75 women’s volleyball crown.

He still sees a glimmer of hope for his embattled crew, who will be hard-pressed to bounce back from their ego-deflating five-set loss (25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 22-25, 6-15) and level the series.

“It’s not over ‘til the Fat Lady sings. Two more games, mahirap (it’s tough), it’s a tall order because now, La Salle has the psychological advantage against us. But we’ll have to do our best again next time,” said Gorayeb, trying to stay positive after the heartbreaker in front of over 17,000 fans at the Big Dome last Saturday.

The Lady Eagles started strong only to lose focus, steam and the match in the end. They took the first two sets rather handily and were leading in the third set, 13-8, before falling into a maze of errors and poor reception that enabled the Lady Archers to claw back and eventually complete a steal of a win.

“Ang pinaka-main na nakita ko is di na kami naka-receive. Sa third, lamang kami, 13-8, napabayaan, kaka-error, kaka-misreceive  (Our main problem was our receiving. We were up in the third set but blew it away with errors and mis-receiving),” he said. 

“Talagang ganon (That’s the way it goes). We just have to accept what happened and learn from our mistakes kasi second time na we won the first two sets against La Salle tapos three straight natalo kami. Sana hindi na mangyari sa susunod (Hope this won’t happen again),” he added.

He was referring to their first round encounter, which basically followed the same script, with the Lady Archers prevailing in come-from-behind fashion, 26-28, 21-25, 25-13, 25-21, 15-13.

The Lady Archers are going for the clincher and a three-peat tomorrow before another expected full house – or perhaps a new record crowd – at MOA Arena.

“Kailangan lang buo ang loob  at ma-execute nang maigi yung game plan (We just have to keep the faith and follow our gameplan,” said Gorayeb, thinking of ways to resuscitate the Lady Eagles’ sagging bid for a first-ever crown.