The 0-3-1 DLSU Lady Woodpushers still continue their search for a breakthrough win in their UAAP Season 86 campaign after a draw, 2-2, against their rivals ADMU Blue Eagles last Wednesday, October 25, at the FEU Tech Building. La Salle came into the match looking to shrug off their first loss of the season against the FEU Lady Tamaraws.
Looking into the positives
Rinoa Sadey delivered the lone point for La Salle on Board 4 against Alphecca Gonzales. Arena FIDE Master Sara Olendo forced a draw against Ma. Elayza Villa in Board 3 while Jiessel Marino from Ateneo scored a point against Checy Aliena Telesforo in Board 1. The Lady Woodpushers dropped to sixth place in the team standings after Round Five.
For team captain Olendo, despite the stalemate ending against Ateneo, she saw the positives that can be brought to their games to come, saying, “It’s good enough. Para sa akin nakikita ko naman po ‘yung improvement sa play namin lahat.”
(For me, I see the improvement in our plays.)
For Sadey, taking advantage of a mistake is the key to winning a point. “I tried to come up with something over the board and I think it worked somehow, pero towards the middle medyo equal pa rin pero she made a mistake and ayun I tried to capitalize on that end,” she explained.
(I tried to come up with something over the board and I think it worked somehow, but towards the middle somehow it seems to be equal despite she made a mistake and there I tried to capitalize on that end.)
Home stretch
Despite having yet another 2-2 result in the season, Coach Susan Neri is sticking to the process. “Amin talaga, still finding the right timing na mag-synchronize ‘yung scoring. Kasi kanina kaya naman talaga, kaya naman. Lahat naman actually ng games namin, parang almost parang ganun,” she shared.
(For us, we’re still finding the right timing for our scoring to be synchronized. Because [the matchup] a while ago, it was winnable. Actually, all of our games were like that.)
As the games progress, the team won’t settle for moral victories and will be hungry to achieve their first win. “I think the girls won’t settle, we won’t as a team, we will never settle for any less for the coming two games. We’re gonna pour everything na on the two games because again we’re hungry to find our momentum, our winning momentum,” she added.
Looking to lead her side to their first victory in the season, Sara Olena shared the same sentiments, “We’re really hungry for that first shoutout win talaga, so for our preparation sa last few rounds dito sa round one, we already have ‘yung tira nandyan na we just need to deal with the pressure and tiwala lang sa sarili.”
(We already have the moves and we just need to deal with the pressure and trust ourselves.)
The DLSU Lady Woodpushers look to break in the win column this Saturday, October 28, against the UST Lady Tigers, at 1 pm at the FEU Tech Building.
