Ateneo rallies around injured Zel Tsunashima, JLo delos Santos as rehab work begins

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Ateneo women's volleyball captain Lyann de Guzman and former Blue Eagles Roma Doromal and Vanie Gandler rally the troops after a horrific, injury-riddled start to UAAP Season 87

MANILA, Philippines – Life goes on for the Ateneo Blue Eagles after their UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament debut was rocked hard with the gruesome leg break injury of Zel Tsunashima and the subsequent ACL tear of fellow hitter JLo delos Santos the following practice.

Following the team’s loss to defending champion NU, which included a promising 25-23 first-set defeat despite being physically and emotionally shorthanded, Blue Eagles captain Lyann de Guzman echoed head coach Sergio Veloso’s encouragement in finding a “strong heart” and “strong mind” throughout.

“Emotionally, we all know it’s going to be difficult,” she said in Filipino. “But we just told one another to hold on to one another. They were really just accidents, so yeah, we just need to hold on. It’s saddening, but we have our other teammates here to cheer us up.”

Blue Eagles, both past and present, made their presence felt for their fallen sisters, as the likes of former stars Roma Mae Doromal and Vanie Gandler made time to visit Tsunashima and Delos Santos as they begin their post-surgery rehab work.

Delos Santos was seen in high spirits before her surgery, flashing big smiles after Ateneo’s loss to NU despite wearing a huge left leg cast, while De Guzman assured that Tsunashima was feeling positive as well post-surgery.

Now at the bottom of the standings at 0-2, De Guzman and the rest of the Blue Eagles are taking all the positive moments they can get just so they can stay competitive against the rest of the league, should they not shape up to be in contending form just yet given their personnel losses.

“Our five-set [loss to Adamson] and our good play in the first set [against NU], that helped us a lot, especially for the rookies to boost their confidence like the rest of us as well,” De Guzman continued.

“We said we’d dedicate these games for [Zel and JLo]. Especially us seniors like AC [Miner] and Taks [Fujimoto], we’re all really close with JLo and Zel. This season is for them.”

Tsunashima and Delos Santos have been ruled out for the rest of Season 87 and are aiming for a full recovery come Season 88 next year. – Rappler.com