Lady Bulldogs step up to the plate after Gorayeb’s ‘silent suspension’

MANILA, Philippines – For most of the match, the banners of the blue and white stood proud as the Katipunan supporters huddled to cheer on the Lady Eagles, who were gunning for their 9th straight win at the Arena in San Juan. But with Jaja Santiago and the rest of National University coming back from a 2-1 deficit after pushing the match to a deciding set, the Lady Bulldogs’ crowd gradually sparked to life. 

Now at 7-4, NU has again sent Ateneo back to the losing column – the only team to do so to the Lady Eagles thus far in the elimination round.

Roger Gorayeb’s squad hacked out a 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13 victory on Wednesday, March 22 in a match where spectators noticed a peculiar instance in the opening minutes.

Gorayeb stood by his bold decision of playing without his liberos Gayle Valdez and Joni Chavez in 3 and a half sets against the league leaders. 

“Paninindigan ko talaga,” said Gorayeb of his decision to sit out the defensive specialists, whom he earlier called out after a lackluster outing against UE. “Parang sinuspinde ko sila.” 

“Sabi ko [sa kanila], kung hindi kayo magbabago, walang mangyayari sa inyo” 

(I will stand by it [my decision]. I gave them some kind of suspension, I told them nothing will happen if they don’t change the way they play.) 

In the momental absence of Valdez and Chavez, the rest of the Lady Bulldogs stepped up their game in the defensive department. Risa Sato listed 14 excellent digs to go with her 8 markers, while Jorelle Singh had 10 excellent digs as well as 5 excellent receptions apart from contributing 11 in the scoreboard. 

Skipper Santiago, who had 16 spikes and 8 kill blocks for a game-high 25, posted 7 digs of her own in her team’s almost libero-less victory. 

Apart from the temporary suspension, the Lady Bulldogs shotcaller revealed that his team likewise prepared with Santiago playing in the back row. When the critical endgame made its way to the door, however, Gorayeb called Valdez for action as the defensive specialist finally earned minutes on the floor in the 4^th as well as the deciding set. 

“Noong bandang huli, medyo critical na. Ang main concern ko ‘yung team kaya [sabi ko] gamitin ko muna [libero] kasi ang laki ng lamang namin, nauubos lang sa misreceive,” he added.

“’Pagdating ng 5^th set, [mukhang] maganda naman ‘yung pagkaka-silent suspension ko sa kanila.” 

(It became critical as the match was about to end. My main concern is the team, so I opted to use [the libero] because our lead was cut down just because of our misreceive. When it came to the 5^th set, it seemed like my silent suspension on them worked. )

The Lady Bulldogs are now buckling up for action for a crucial game against the University of the Philippines. The team, however, will temporarily miss Gorayeb’s services on Sunday due to a family commitment. －Rappler.com