WHEN the going got tough back from UAAP Season 87 opening weekend, La Salle found a way to get going again.
The Lady Spikers bounced back from getting swept by National U with a 25-21, 26-24, 25-20 sweep of their own at the expense of Adamson, Saturday at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Alleiah Malaluan fired the game-winning kill and top-scored with 16 points and four receptions, as Angel Canino bounced back big-time from the NU loss with a 15-point, 4-dig game.
La Salle avoided early infamy in its decorated volleyball lore, as a 0-2 start would’ve been its first in 20 years since Season 68 just as Ramil de Jesus was approaching his first decade at the helm in Taft.
The Lady Falcons, meanwhile, had their wings clipped after reverse-sweeping Ateneo thanks to super rookie Shaina Nitura’s historic 33-piece.
This time, Nitura was held to a little less than half with 16 points. Another San Marcelino rookie in Nigerian winger Frances Mordi shone bright in defeat with 12 attacks.
Fall down hard, fight back harder
Losing on opening day is a rarity for the Lady Spikers in nearly three decades under RDJ's heralded coaching tenure.
It's as if they were handicapped and just had no response to their championship tormentor Lady Bulldogs.
One thing de Jesus rued was that lost in that straight-sets loss was an integral part of La Salle's almost-unrivaled brand of volleyball: in-game confidence from start to finish.
"‘Yung pagdating sa loob ng court, ‘yung confidence nila (iba ngayon). Last Sunday (against NU), hindi ganun eh. Nangangapa," he said.
"Nandu'n naman ‘yung buong tiwala ko naman na nandu'n sila, pero ‘yun ‘yung unang-unang inalis nila sa sarili nila na dapat maibalik."
Canino added: "Maraming learnings sa akin kasi siyempre coming into UAAP at kapag first game, (madalas) nananalo kami. Parang naging baliktad yung nangyari coming into this season."
"Ang dami rin namin learning na nakuha nu'ng natalo kami. Ang dami naming realizations as a team and also as a individual na nakatulong para ibalik namin 'yung sarili namin at dahan-dahan namin binabalik 'yung kumpyansa na meron kami," she added.
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