Lady Maroon Justine Dorog, stretchered out before Battle of Katipunan

Justine Dorog, who averages around 11 points per game, was stretchered out of the Flying V Filoil Arena due to menstrual cramps. (File Photo: UP WVT Lady Fighting Maroons/Facebook)

It was a chaotic day for the University of the Philippines (UP) women’s volleyball team last Sunday, March 10 as Justine Dorog, who averages around 11 points per game, is stretchered out of the Flying V Filoil Arena due to menstrual cramps before their University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 elimination match against the Ateneo Lady Eagles.

Just an hour before the start of the game, Dorog passed out, to which her coach Godfrey Okumu stated is “nothing out of the ordinary and nothing to be worried about. He explained, “Just stress. Just normal. She’ll be fine. Don’t worry about her, she’ll just be fine,” but added, “I hope she’ll be able to come back. I hope she gets some rest.”

Dorog still did return on court for the game and was able to sub in the first set, but only contributed four points the entire game. 

Altomea’s injury

Dorog was not the only one injured during the game for on the second set, teammate Remelyn Altomea was led off the playing court due to an ankle injury. After getting proper treatment at the locker room, the libero came back and contributed a total of 11 excellent digs and 15 successful receptions. 

In the end, the State University lost to the Ateneo Lady Eagles in four sets. Coach Godfrey applauded Dorog and Altomea for overcoming injuries, saying, “We’re just lucky, that’s what I can say. We’re grateful to have players [who have] a very strong heart, always ready to go when called upon,” but attests their loss to “lack of focus” and “not being in the game.” In his words, “We tried, but things did not happen as planned. You could see we did not play our game.”

Looking in retrospect, Okumu concludes, “Sometimes a loss like this makes us know as a team how vulnerable we are. It doesn’t matter how strong we think we are, it doesn’t matter how many players we have in our team. Sometimes we’re vulnerable, and that by itself, we need to address that part.”

The UP Lady Maroons will have a chance to recover next Wednesday, March 13, facing the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs at the Filoil Flying V Centre. Ateneo, on the other hand, will next be facing Adamson on the same day.