NU Bulldogs head coach Dante Alinsunurin has long believed that rookie setter Jeffe Gallego’s breakout was a matter of when and not if.
Despite entering the league as a former UAAP juniors’ MVP, Jeffe Gallego found himself riding the bench to start his college career with the NU Bulldogs in the Season 87 Men’s Volleyball Tournament.
Gallego was expected to split time with sophomore Greg Ancheta as the setters tasked to fill the role left by two-time UAAP Finals Most Valuable Player Owa Retamar following his college graduation.
However, as talented as he was, Gallego was yet to properly grasp Dante Alinsunurin’s system, resulting in his limited minutes throughout Round 1 of Season 87. It didn’t help either that NU’s offseason buildup wasn’t exactly smooth, given that much of their core had national team commitments.
“As galing sa high school, wala pang sistema sa setting talaga, kaya pag pasok ko, parang nahihirapan pa po ako,” Gallego reflected.
Rather than dwell over his limited minutes, Gallego opted to stay patient, putting in extra work to grasp his new team’s system as a rookie.
On Wednesday, those efforts finally paid off for Gallego, as he led NU’s reverse sweep over the Adamson Soaring Falcons late into Round 1. With Ancheta struggling, Gallego was inserted midway through Set 2, which proved to be crucial in the Bulldogs’ thrilling 20-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-12 victory.
Gallego finished with 22 excellent sets against Adamson, setting up Michaelo Buddin (22 points), Jade Disquitado (15 points), and team captain Leo Aringo (13 points) as NU overcame a 2-0 deficit against the Falcons.
“Yun nga, sa past few games na ‘di ako nagagamit and parang sub-sub lang ako, ginagawa ko palagi is ready lang ako palagi sa bench,” Gallego said. “Alam ko po na gagamitin ako and minindset ko na kailangan pag ginamit ako, gagawin ko ‘yung best ko and 100 percent na makakaya ko sa team.”
Winning character
For head coach Dante Alinsunurin, Jeffe Gallego’s breakout was always a matter of if, and never when. It’s true that Gallego needed to adjust to his system, but Alinsunurin pointed out that he had always seen a winning character within the rookie.
“Kaya ko naman kinuha ‘yung bata kasi ‘yung character talaga niya, ‘yung after niya mag UAAP [Juniors], nakita ko kung paano talaga siya maglaro, and ‘yun ‘yung nagustuhan ko talaga…And ayan na nga, kanina, sa pinakita niya sakin, [nakita] ko na nakukuha na niya ‘yung sistema namin,” Alinsunurin told The GAME in a short follow-up interview.
With Gallego finally baring his fangs, Alinsunurin now gets the privilege of having not one, but two setters he can call upon to set up the Bulldogs. Sure, it’s going to be a challenge to distribute the minutes, but it’s nonetheless an equation Alinsunurin would gladly solve moving forward.
“Medyo nahihirapan na ako, or mag-iisip na ako kung paano ko ima-maximize ‘yung dalawa [Gallego and Ancheta] in terms of kung paano ko sila gagamitin pagdating sa ganong sitwasyon, na kung sino ba talaga ‘yung gagamitin ko hanggang dulo,” a proud Alinsunurin said.
But has Gallego finally earned a starting nod? It will all depend on his performances moving forward according to Alinsunurin.
Up next for the Bulldogs will be their finals rematch against the UST Golden Spikers, where the former Nazareth School-NU star may go toe-to-toe with a star playmaker in Dux Yambao.
“Sa ngayon, syempre ibabalanse ko pa, kailangan ko pa malaman kung sino ‘yung karapat dapat kasi ayoko naman biglain. Siguro may chance ulit na pag siya ‘yung nag-deliver, siguro dun ko siya bibigyan ng pagkakataon,” the champion mentor said of his rookie setter.
Images courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.