MANILA, Philippines — Zel Tsunashima will miss the remainder of UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament due to a broken tibia and fibula.

Tsunashima suffered the injury after a bad fall when she attempted for a block midway through the fifth set of the Blue Eagles’ 25-21, 25-20, 12-25, 15-25, 12-15 loss to the Adamson Lady Falcons on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

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“Zel needed surgery in the last few days. She broke them, the tibia and fibula. But now, she’s okay. She started physiotherapy, but unfortunately for this situation, she cannot play anymore this season,” Ateneo coach Sergio Veloso told  reporters before their game against National University on Wednesday at FilOil EcoOil Centre.

READ: UAAP: Ateneo coach offers no excuse after loss to Adamson

Ateneo coach Sergio Veloso bares that Zel Tsunashima and JLo Delos Santos have ruled out for #UAAPSeason87 women’s volleyball due to their injuries. @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/ifwm5dsLHL

— Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) February 19, 2025

Tsunashima, a third-year spiker, had a promising Season 87 debut with 10 points including an ace before getting hurt.

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Besides Tsunashima, the Brazilian coach also shared that JLo Delos Santos suffered a season-ending left ACL injury during their last practice before the opener.

“She will go to surgery too because when she landed, she landed over one leg like Geezel. Geezel landed over her left when she touched the other foot and lost balance and broke,” he said.

“JLo’s the same, when she landed on one leg, and when she bent her knee, the player touched her knee, and she got a problem in her ACL.”

READ: UAAP: Ateneo faces early adversity after Zel Tsunashima injury

With two key players sidlined, Veloso urged his players to keep going and show a next-man-up mentality.

“These are our words, strong heart, strong mind. I told the players, sometimes you don’t know what God proposes. But you know it’s the time to show that you have a strong heart and strong mind,” Veloso said. 

“It’s a part of the sport. You play a high-level sport, sometimes you have a kind of accident. These situations are totally accidents. But the girls are strong and the program in physical conditioning and they can recover faster. This is the purpose of our plan. You need to prepare and prevent some situations. But when these situations happen, you need to return faster,” he added.