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    Roselyn Rosier steps up on eve of birthday to gift UP win in finals opener

    Birthday girl rises to the occasion for the Lady Maroons vs FEU
    Sep 10, 2018
    Roselyn Rosier gets a hug from Maraine Buitre after a nice play.
    PHOTO: dante peralta

    BIRTHDAY-GIRL Roselyn Rosier kicked off her special day with a breakthrough performance that gifted University of the Philippines a huge come-from-behind Game One win over Far Eastern University to inch a win away from bagging their first major championship in the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Collegiate Conference.

    On the eve of her birthday, Rosier rose to the occasion and helped the Lady Maroons recover from a two-set deficit to turn back the Lady Tamaraws with an amazing 14-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-5 victory in series opener of the best-of-three Finals on Sunday at the Arena in San Juan City.

    “It’s amazing, I mean doing the thing I love the most before my birthday and winning our game, is probably the best birthday gift I could ever get for myself and the team as well,” said Rosier, who dropped 15 points off 13 kills including a great defensive effort of 14 excellent digs.

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    The sophomore spiker, who just turned 20 years old on Monday, added that she has been drawing inspiration from her teammates to play her best and make the most out of the given big break by her coaches.

    “I think the thing that motivates me are my teammates and lalo na seeing them improve let’s me know that I can improve on so many things. I won’t say that ‘this is the best that I can do’ I always say that I can do better,” said Rosier, who has been a revelation for UP since their semifinals series against Adamson.

    UP head coach Godfrey Okumu was impressed by how her young ward stepped up when it mattered most and played her best game so far in the conference.

    “She did great today. She helped us win today and she played a very big role,” said Okumu on Rosier’s conference high. “I think she just made history for herself with her score.”

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    The 5-foot-7 outside hitter said that first finals game jitters held them in the first two sets but they didn’t give in and willed their way back until they completed an amazing comeback against the more experienced Lady Tamaraws.

    “Noong first set talaga I was like ‘oh my god’ I guess we were just surprised with how fast and ang daming plays nila. We prepared for it but we were just weren’t, I mean, our mindset was still not there,” she said.

    “Then little by little we were getting the spikes, we were getting the blocks. By the third set we knew the tendency like their serves and their spikes. I think that’s how we countered their attacks. We just remembered how they play, like what’s their favorite spot to go to when their spiking," she added.

    With a win away from delivering UP’s first major volleyball title in 36 years since the school won a UAAP championship in 1982, Rosier wants to win it for all the ages, who tried to regain the lost glory for Diliman.

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    “I think matagal na sa kanila lalo na sa seniors namin, we really, really wanted to win,” she said. “I guess now they just realized that it’s not all about power and I think what they lacked was teamwork before. Individually they’re crazy good but they were just lacking how to work as a team. Now we’re focusing more on how we will help each other.”

    As they try to sweep the Lady Tamaraws in Game Two on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., the birthday girl believes that her team will learn from their slow start in Game One and pull off another surprise in the title-clinching battle.

    “I guess more plays. This game I think we only had a few plays and ang dami naming errors sa service so we’re gonna fix that lalo na sa service receive,” she said. “I think we’re gonna surprise FEU na marunong din pala kaming mag-service receive.”

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    Roselyn Rosier gets a hug from Maraine Buitre after a nice play.
    PHOTO: dante peralta
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