Arellano University head coach Obet Javier said their four-set win against San Sebastian College-Recoletos is a crucial one, especially with only a few games left in the elimination round of the NCAA Season 98 women’s volleyball tournament.
Prior to the match, Arellano, a former three-peat champion, was sitting at the sixth spot. But after the 27-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-15, triumph over the Lady Stags, Arellano improved its standing to 4-2 and forged a tie with Mapua and Lyceum.
Javier said the win will somehow dictate their momentum moving forward in their bid to reclaim the throne.
“Masaya dahil nanalo kami today kasi napaka-importante ng game e,” said Javier on Wednesday.
“Kung titignan natin, kanina bago pa kami maglaro, nasa rank six kami so ‘yung pwesto namin hindi maganda. ‘Yung mga remaining games kailangan talaga namin [ipanalo]. Napaka-tight ng labanan sa standings e.”
("I'm happy that we won today because this was a very important game... If you look at it, before we played, we were rank six so the position wasn't great. We really need to win the remaining games. The battle in the standings is very tight.")
Arellano flaunted its depth in the victory with 14 players fielded to the court. Of those, 10 players scored at least a point as San Sebastian only had eight players in the game.
But the biggest name for Arellano was rookie Angelique Padillon, who poured in 20 points to steer the Lady Chiefs.
“Si Padillon isa naman talaga ‘yan sa inaasahan ko,” shared Javier.
“Ang problema lang, ‘pag mga crunch time, naa-out of focus siya so buti na lang kanina, nand’on ‘yung mindset niya.”
("Padillon is one of those that I depend on... The only problem is, in crunch time, she gets out of focus so it was good her mindset was there today.")
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
