UE Lady Warriors’ Casiey Dongallo during a game against Ateneo Blue Eagles within the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Casiey Dongallo announced her UAAP arrival in style by scoring essentially the most points in a UAAP debut with 27 points on Saturday.
Dongallo, nonetheless, made it clear she’s not only playing for private accolades but in addition to assist University of the East reach greater heights in women’s volleyball.
“The explanation why we went to UE is we would like to assist UE rise from where they were before,” said Dongallo in Filipino after nailing 26 of her 67 attack attempts in UE’s 20-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 win over Ateneo within the Season 86 women’s volleyball opener on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“And it’s been fun because little by little we’re in a position to just do that which was really our purpose to start with.”
SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 86 volleyball first round
The California Academy product admitted she felt rookie jitters, which led to their first-set loss.
Due to her UE teammates including her fellow rookies Kizzie Madriaga and Shamel Fernandez from California Academy, who reminded her to introduce her game in front of the Lady Warriors’ faithful.
DEALING WITH PRESSURE
“My teammates also confer with me and tell me that I just have to indicate my game. And naturally, I would like to indicate to everyone what I’m able to for them to not be disillusioned,” Dongallo said.
“They (teammates) told me take a look at all of the people anticipating UE and anticipating you. They’re all looking forward to see you play and you have to show them what they’ve been waiting for,” Dongallo said. “Even doc (Obet Vital), coach Jerry Yee, they trust me and at first it was nerve-wracking. But my teammates just told me to play my game and I’ll be high quality.”
UE only had a complete of nine wins and suffered 119 losses in 10 years.
Determined to steer this system to a breakthrough, UE assistant coach Dr. Obet Vital admitted it won’t be easy as it can be a protracted process for the Lady Warriors, who lost top recruit Jelaica Gajero on account of an ACL injury within the preseason.
The 18-year-old Dongallo agreed together with her coach and can proceed to trust the method and revel in their first season.
“We are going to just do our greatest throughout this season. It can take time but we’ll make progress. We’re going to realize our goals one after the other. This win is one among our games and we’re hoping to still do our greatest next game,” she said.
UE battles University of Santo Tomas on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But Dongallo is looking forward to taking up La Salle, which it has yet to face even within the preseason.
“It can be a lesson for us after we play them. We’ll see how far we’ve come and the way much UE has improved under a brand new system,” said Dongallo of their March 6 match against Angel Canino and the Lady Spikers.
“Whatever we’ll learn against La Salle, we’ll sure use it in our training.”
