SHAINA Nitura has been Adamson’s ride-or-die in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament.
The Lady Falcons’ rookie-captain has broken almost every scoring record there is just 11 matches into her UAAP seniors’ career.
READ: Fiery Nitura lifts Adamson to stunning win over NU Lady Bulldogs
The 20-year-old winger’s 33-point debut over Ateneo was the most by a rookie, her 38-piece against University of the Philippines the most by any player in UAAP women’s volleyball, and her latest 36 and 32-point performances making her the first-ever player to score over 30 four times in a single season.
With three matches left in the elimination round, Nitura is 36 points away from breaking Alyssa Valdez’ single-season scoring record of 312 points back in Season 77 in 2015.
While teams would often preach even ball distribution, Adamson head coach JP Yude isn’t shying away from the fact that giving the ball to their ‘number one spiker’ as often as possible is a strategic move that ‘makes life easier’ for the Lady Falcons.
“Pinag-aaralan namin ng mga coaches din during our viewing [sessions] kung sino talaga yung nakakapatay ng bola so du’n kami nagfo-focus,” Yude said.
“Although we instruct the setters na kailangan i-distribute ang bola at the same time mabigyan yung middle, at least mababantayan yung middle, and mapapadali yung buhay ng mga outside hitters, gusto lang talaga namin na manalo kaya pumpunta kami sa number 1 spiker sa team namin.
“Naiintindihan naman ng lahat yun kasi ang lahat naman ang goal is manalo.”
Numbers-wise, the ball has went Nitura’s way more than any other Adamson player — more so in her four 30-point games where she had over 100 scoring attempts in each one.
Nitura had 106 attempts in her 33-piece against Ateneo, (28-of-73 attacks), 110 attempts in her 36-piece over UP (35-of-88 attacks), a season-high 133 attempts in a five-set loss to University of Santo Tomas (32-of-104 attacks) and 111 attempts in a 32-piece over defending champion National University (30-of-85 attacks).
'Why not?'
For as long as it helps Lady Falcons’ winning cause, Nitura won’t mind one bit getting almost every touch of the ball.
“Wala naman pong parang problema du’n kasi sabi nga po ni coach, if yun yung way to win, why not?
Nitura added: “Lagi naman po namin yun ina-address na lahat talaga makapatay, lahat mabigyan ng bola as much as possible.
“Ayun nga, young team, inconsistent pa, and there are times na talagang on sila, there are times na hindi, so kailangan lang namin maghinay-hinay and mag-alalay lang din talaga at magtiwala lang […] kasi if the time comes, malay natin.”
Similarly, her growing list of records is one she hasn’t dwelled too much on as she continues to put her mind and heart on her one and only goal.
‘’Di ko po talaga siya pinapansin [yung records]. Hindi ko po yun masyado nilalagay sa utak ko at sa heart ko [dahil] hindi naman po yun yung goal. Ito po yung goal, manalo.”
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