MANILA, Philippines – Although they have yet to win a match – or even a set – in the UAAP Season 79 women's volleyball tournament, Adamson University star Jema Galanza believes the Lady Falcons have shown steady progress in their games.

The Lady Falcons dropped to 0-3 on Sunday, after losing to National University (NU), 15-25, 22-25, 19-25. Galanza was their lone scorer in double digits with 10 points, all on attacks.

Adamson gave up 11 aces to the Lady Bulldogs, yet Galanza saw reason to be optimistic.

"Para sa amin na bagong team, paganda naman na ng paganda ang laro namin," said Galanza.

"After ng first two games namin, nagiging better ang laro namin nitong third game," she added. "Siyempre, masakit sa amin na natatalo kami, pero ang gusto namin, habang naglalaro kami, pataas kami ng pataas."

[I think we're improving game by game. After our first two games, we played better this time around. Of course, it's painful to lose, but we want to just improve on a per game basis.]

• READ: Lady Bulldogs extend winning romp to 3 for solo lead

Indeed, after a poor opening set, the Lady Falcons gave the Lady Bulldogs a fright in the second frame. They even led 21-18, taking advantage of the absence of Jaja Santiago and Jorelle Singh, as both players sat out most of the second set.

But they faded down the stretch, with NU coach Roger Gorayeb opting to field his starters back in. After taking a 22-20 lead, the Lady Falcons failed to get on the board again.

In the third set, they were unable to capitalize on the absence of NU's primary setter, Jasmine Nabor, and were swept.

Their second set loss greatly disappointed new head coach Airess Padda, according to Galanza.

"Nagagalit siya, kasi parang hindi nagagawa 'yung gusto niya sa loob ng court," Galanza revealed. "Nandoon na kasi 'yung opportunity namin kanina sa second set, kasi wala si Jaja sa loob."

"Kailangan lang namin siyang angatan ng angatan, pero wala. Doon pa kami nawala, kung kailan nawala si Jaja," she added. "'Yun ang kinainisan niya."

[She got mad because we couldn't do what she wanted inside the court. The opportunity was there in the second set because Jaja was on the bench. We just needed to take care of the ball, but we couldn't. She got frustrated because we lost the opportunity.]

Nevertheless, Galanza is confident that they can notch a breakthrough victory soon, even as she and Joy Dacoron are serving as the only veterans in a team full of first-year or second-year players.

"Sinasabi ko lang sa kanila na bago tayo, so huwag nating bigyan ng pressure ang sarili natin," she said. "'Di tayo kilala ng ibang team, kasi nga bago tayo. So bakit kailangan nating ma-pressure sa laro?"

"Magtulungan tayo at gawin niyo ang dapat niyong gawin sa laro. Huwag kabahan kasi sa first-timer, 'yan naman talaga ang problema. Huwag kayong kabahan kasi nandito ako, at ang mga coaches natin," she added.

[I just tell the young players that we're a new team, so there's no need to put pressure on ourselves. The other teams don't know us, so why should we be pressured? Let's just help each other and do what we need to do inside the court. Don't get nervous, because that's the problem of first-timers. I'm here to help and so are our coaches.]

The Lady Falcons lost to University of the Philippines and Far Eastern University in their first two games and have yet to score more than 23 points in a set this season.

They will return to action on Saturday against the Ateneo de Manila University.

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