UNIVERSITY of the Philippines dynamic duo Tots Carlos and Isa Molde struggled in their three-set defeat to Ateneo de Manila, failing to live up to the expectations in their highly anticipated UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball match on Sunday at the Arena in San Juan City.
Carlos and Molde, who came in averaging 17.8 and 16.8 points in four games, respectively, were not in their usual form in the Battle of Katipunan, allowing the Lady Eagles to take the solo lead with a 4-1 win-loss record, while the Lady Maroons dropped to 3-2 slate at fifth place.
Team captain Carlos only had 10 points and was even subbed out in the third set, while Molde was limited to just six hits with UP head coach Godfrey Okumu ruing that his wards wanted to win with haste.
“They are very much in a hurry even if we’re passing we’re not settled and I don’t understand why we’re not settled because we’ve been tested before on this,” said Okumu, whose wards failed to sustain the momentum from their big win over De La Salle last week.
“We just have to go back and work on it. It was a bad day for us, honestly speaking,” he added.
Carlos agreed with her coach and admitted their lapses.
“I think it’s true kasi gusto namin manalo pero yun nga nakalimutan namin yung process,” said Carlos, a member of the women’s national pool. “Nakalimutan namin kung paano kami dapat mananalo. Inisip lang namin yung result.”
“Nagkulang kami sa pakikinig ng instructions and nagfocus kami sa kung anong gustong gawin namin,” she added.
For Molde, the team was lacking the mental toughness against Ateneo, which showed more willingness to win the game right from the get go.
“Siguro kasi yung problema mental toughness yun ang naging kulang namin nung naglalaro,” said the U-23 national team captain. “Bumitaw kami and siguro gusto talaga manalo ng Aneo eh siguro yun yung naging factor na mas ginusto nilang manalo sa amin.”
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Carlos and Molde vowed to move on and focus on their remaining games in the first round against National University (1-4) on Wednesday and Adamson (1-4) on Sunday.
“From there, we move on kasi yung team gusto namin manalo, matalo magmove on na kami agad,” Carlos said. “Kasi wala na yun e tapos na yun so we focus on the next game.”
“Siguro maaangat namin by laruin lang pano laro namin, pano kami nagsimula and as a team play together always together,” added Molde. “Lagi namang sinasabi ng coaches na wag bababa morale kasi andito na kami may two games pang natitira sa first round and siguro pag bumaba pa morale namin magiging mababa talaga yun.”
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