UE's Dongallo happy to be able to give UST a run for their money

MANILA, Philippines -- Despite losing to the UST Golden Tigresses, UE Lady Red Warrior rookie Casiey Dongallo is sticking to the positives.

Dongallo had a massive outing for UE on Wednesday, scoring 23 points built on 22 attacks and a block.

However, the Lady Red Warriors were dominated, 18-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-22 by UST.

After the game Dongallo said she is “very proud” of her team.

“Knowing UST is a great team, we still won a set. Knowing that UE is just a young team that is also lacking some players… we were able to win a set and our scores are close enough,” the 18-year-old outside hitter told reporters in Filipino.

The team technically only had 13 players on its roster, she bared, as players Jelai Gajero, Kizzie Madriaga and Shamel Fernandez are nursing some injuries.

“It is a big accomplishment for us to stay close and even get a set against UST, knowing that they are a great team,” she added.

UE earlier won its first game in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament against the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

And against the Golden Tigresses, who went to the semifinals last season, they took the first set before UST rookie Angeline Poyos and Xyza Gula secured the victory.

“The coaches told us that this game, knowing UST is a great team, we just have to play our game because we have nothing to lose but everything to gain,” she said.

“Whatever happens in this game, which we lost, it will be a lesson for us. We have some lessons learned that we need to work on during our training,” she added.

With a 1-1 win-loss record, the team still has a lot to work on, Dongallo said.

“We still need to work on our speed so we can catch up with the movements of the other teams.”

Dongallo will try to bounce back against the FEU Lady Tamaraws on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.