ONE touch felt, admitted, and carried through.
In the aftermath of a contentious finish, it was Arah Panique who found herself at the center of the decisive sequence. A net touch in the most crucial moment that helped swing the match towards La Salle and push National U towards the stepladder.
READ: Block touch? Net touch? Why contentious call went La Salle's way vs NU
And at the end of it all, there was no hiding from it.
“For me po, sayang kasi nag-net touch po talaga ako dun,” she admitted, owning up to the moment with disarming honesty.
“Hindi ko in-expect na mangyayari yun kasi gigil din akong makuha yung point na yun.”
It was pure competitive instinct that led to the error. The same instinct that pushed the Lady Bulldogs to drag the top seed into a fifth set in the first place.
But in a match decided by margins, even instinct can turn costly.
“Nung nangyari po yun, parang nabi-blame ko yung sarili ko,” Panique said, even after contributing 15 attacks, including four blocks.
“Kasi sayang nga po talaga na kaya naman naming maipanalo sana yun. So sa isang pagkakamali lang po talaga...”
Still, even with that weight, the opposite spiker found something to hold on to - not the mistake, but the response.
“Proud ako sa mga kasama ko. Sa training pa lang po, pinaghihirapan na po namin bawat galaw namin tapos nilaban namin,” she stated.
And that fight now becomes their fuel, in saying, “Panghuhugutan po namin yung pagkatalo ngayon. Sa stepladder po, kailangan naming maipanalo lahat.”
Vange's vantage
If Panique carried the weight of the moment, team captain Vange Alinsug brought the perspective.
During the huddle, as questions swirled around the call, Alinsug chose clarity over controversy.
“Kinapos lang din talaga yung laban namin sa dulo. So fault talaga din namin yun,” Alinsug said after ending with 19 attacks, three blocks, and 12 excellent receptions.
Even the final sequence, for the skipper, wasn’t something to contest.
As she put it, “Yung call naman kasi is tama. Nag-net touch si Arah, nag-challenge yung La Salle. So point din talaga din.”
It was a leader leading, absorbing the loss, protecting her team, and shifting the focus forward.
Because for Alinsug, the story doesn’t end here.
“Hindi naman yung game na ’to yung magde-define sa amin kasi hindi pa tapos. Madami pa kaming laro,” she said.
There is pain, she admits. There always is, but not to the point of breaking.
“Siyempre, masakit. Kailangan din namin dalhin yung pain na nararamdaman namin ngayon,” she said.
“Hindi dapat dito rin bababa yung morale namin kasi malalakas pa yung mga kalaban namin.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
