BY Andrei Barrantes
WHAT was projected to be a battle between middle-of-the-road teams who nonetheless have much promise in UAAP Season 87 eventually ended as a historic five-set showdown.
As teammate Barbie Jamili soared for 18 points after not being fielded in the last three games, Adamson super rookie Shaina Nitura went nuclear with 38 points, built on 35 attacks and three aces.
Despite the breakout and all-time performances the Lady Falcons got, however, the University of the Philippines managed to weather the storm thanks to total team effort.
READ: UP overcomes Nitura's 38 points to finally come back to life
Irah Jaboneta (19 points), Joan Monares (15), and Kianne Olango (15) did damage from the wings, while at the net, Niña Ytang quickly reclaimed her status as one of the best middle blockers.
After sitting out the Fighting Maroons' last two games due to an abdominal strain, Ytang top-scored with 20 points, coming from 15 attacks and three blocks - including two of her team's last five points in the deciding fifth set.
While the two-time second-best middle blocker appeared as fearsome as she's always been, she admitted that playing a nip-and-tuck five-setter as her first match back was an obstacle she had to hurdle.
“Actually, buti po [kinaya] ko mag-last sa buong game, kasi sabi lang ng coach ko na mag-ready lang ako,” she said.
As she explained, “Recovering naman na po ako ngayon. Andun na, malapit na. Sobrang less na lang po talaga ng pain ngayon, so siguro rest lang po muna for a few days. Pero laban pa rin po, kahit anong mangyari.”
Maroons, Stronger, Better, Together
Heading into their last game in the first round, State U and just about everybody knew full well that the Lady Falcons' standout first-year player would be stuffing the stat sheet.
Even so, they actually did not gameplan to stop Nitura's scoring.
Instead, they bet on themselves - that UP, as a unit, would be more than enough against Adamson's one-woman army.
“Sobrang tumatak po talaga sa'kin yung sinabi nung senior and coaches namin na si Shaina, isa lang ‘yan, pero kami, team kami,” Ytang shared.
“Hindi po one-man show sa amin. Teamwork po talaga, hindi pwedeng kanya-kanya po kami sa loob ng court.”
And so, the Fighting Maroons put on one of their most balanced offensives - and it, indeed, trumped Nitura’s historic performance.
“Sobrang nakakatuwa, Inisip talaga namin na hindi pwede na matapos itong Round 1 na ‘to na talo tayo. Hindi talaga ako papayag, hindi kami papayag,” Ytang added, as they barged back into the win column now at 3-4.
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