‘Real’ Ateneo excites captain Roma Doromal as confidence builds in UAAP second round

Finally finding an identity after a lackluster start to UAAP Season 86, the underdog Ateneo Blue Eagles keep their confidence high with the Final Four still well within reach

MANILA, Philippines – The Ateneo Blue Eagles continue to defy preseason expectations in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament after notching their third win in a series sweep of the UP Fighting Maroons on Sunday, March 24.

Although only holding a 3-6 record with no wins against the current top four, the underdog Eagles are nonetheless coming off a five-set scare of the undefeated UST Golden Tigresses and have always given a competitive fight in almost all their losses.

For libero captain Roma Mae Doromal, this sparked fire is all the motivation they could ask for as they start the second round of eliminations on a high note.

“I feel like [the biggest change] now is we’ve embraced our respective roles,” Doromal said after shoring up the 25-14, 25-20, 25-15 rout – Ateneo’s first sweep win of the season.

“At the same time, we’ve seen now that this is the real Ateneo. This is how we really play. This is what we’ve trained for. We’ve seen how hard it is to apply in games what we’ve learned in training, but now, this is it, this is the real Ateneo.”

Sure enough, in recent games, Ateneo has found its go-to attacking trio as Lyann de Guzman, Sobe Buena, and Zel Tsunashima stay on top of the team’s scoring leaderboard, while Doromal continues to support with her reliable floor defense.

Against UP, with De Guzman and Buena checked to single-digit outputs, it was Tsunashima who took up the scoring cudgels with a game-high 16 points on 13 attacks and 3 blocks to make up for the lost numbers.

“For me, coming to round two, our mindset is to really have fun inside the game, and show that good energy coach [Sergio Veloso] has been saying. As Ate Roms said, we’re just embracing our roles,” she said.

With five games left in the elimination round, the Eagles – once brushed aside with the cellar-dwellers – are still within striking distance of the fourth seed.

“In the next few games, hopefully, we get more aggressive and embrace coach Sergio’s system and lessons even more,” Doromal continued.

“Hopefully, we really get into the Final Four.” – Rappler.com