My brother is from the Ateneo de Manila University and I often ask him why one of their battlecry is "Win or Lose, it's the School We Choose!"
He would answer with a smile saying, "Well, it's simply because winning and losing are just two sides of the same coin. And if you have depth as a person, you'd know that losing has its own wonders; Losing builds your character and teaches you to be strong."
His answer is somewhat identical to Jia Morado's message to Deanna Wong who hard time adjusting as the new setter of the squad during their first game of the season against the gritty FEU Lady Tamaraws.
FEU was able to come from behind to steal the win from Ateneo in 5 sets.
This just proves that Ateneans know how to handle tough losses like this. They always look on the bright side knowing that there is always something to learn from every defeat.
After all, their performance against FEU is not that bad considering they lost some key member from the previous season. And add to that the fact that they lost against a great team led by an experienced coach in George Pascua.
Although you can't deny that the girls' service reception was terrible and the setting lacked swag.
Samonte and Maraguinot played well, but Madayag and De Leon weren't able to contribute well because reception and setting were bad.
I wish Kat Tolentino would jump higher and spike stronger but I doubt if her body could take the training needed for it. I could be wrong.
Wong and the new libero need to train harder; The way they played wasn't reassuring.
Wong's serve is also surprisingly weak for a setter. Setters are usually heavy servers because they specialize at "focusing" energy.
But overall, Ateneo is a promising team this year. Small tweaks here and there and they will be okay.