The Ateneo Blue Eagles wouldn't let the first round end without tasting victory in UAAP Season 88.
Victory was inevitable for the Ateneo Blue Eagles as they finally broke through at the expense of the UE Lady Warriors to cap off their first round, 25-19, 25-23, 25-16, in UAAP Season 88 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Saturday.
Going through one of their toughest starts in recent years, the Katipunan squad had to dig deep and get themselves going to avoid a winless first half of the season.
Among the anchors of the team through wins and losses, Jihan Chuatico said that the Blue Eagles simply remained steadfast to keep themselves going through the ups and downs of their campaign.
"Yung losses na yun, we treat them as learning experiences and coming into this game, inisip ko talaga, I woke up and said na I wanna learn today, but I want to win," Chuatico said after unleashing 13 points in the team's first victory of the season.
"In this first round talaga, all those losses, dumidkit kami sa mga kalaban but at the end, nagsstop kami, so, yun yung kailangan namin panghahawakan sa mga next games na we don't stop.”
The Blue Eagles needed to fend off an equally desperate UE side who were also heading into the match at 0-6.
But the Blue Eagles, who have since subscribed to head coach Sergio Veloso's "Strong Mind" mentality.
With the second half of the season still ahead of them, the Blue Eagles just needed to check in with themselves to finally get things going on their end of Katipunan.
"What we were thinking lang is the strong mind mentality na sinasabi ni coach, it has always been like that. Kahit anong mangyari, yun parin iniisip namin and yung mga physical struggles, and mental struggles, lagi lang namin iniisip na we're here to play our sport," Chuatico said.
"We're always reminded why we love our sport. We always go back to our why and why we're here so I think that's definitely one of the things na we're always thinking about." she continued.
Three others also finished in double digit scoring for the Blue Eagles, with rookie Ana Hermosura finishing with 11 points while Zel Tsunashima and Dona De Leon adding 20 markers each.
Meanwhile, the UE Lady Warriors skidded to 0-7, making it a 21-game losing streak from a winless outing last season.
Khy Cepada had 13 points in another losing effort for the Lady Warriors.
The second round of UAAP Season 88 women's volleyball is slated to begin on Wednesday, March 18.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.