MANILA, Philippines — Spiker Sobe Buena became the latest Ateneo player to go down with a major injury in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament.

According to Blue Eagles coach Sergio Veloso, Buena suffered a tear in her right ACL in a loss to University of Santo Tomas last Sunday and is likely to miss the rest of the season.

“These kinds of injuries, my philosophy is to prevent first and you need to think of the player. And for this season, I cannot say 100 percent but I cannot use Sobe and JLo (Delos Santos) too because it’s a knee [injury],” said Veloso after a 15-25, 14-25, 25-20, 19-25 setback at the hands of La Salle on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.

READ: UAAP: Ateneo-La Salle rivalry not the same since Alyssa Valdez left–RDJ

Ateneo coach Sergio Veloso gives an update about Sobe Buena’s injury after the spiker missed their game against La Salle. #UAAPSeason87 @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/7rVuC6EKQz

— Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) March 12, 2025

Buena joined Zel Tsunashima and JLo Delos Santos on the Blue Eagles’ injury list. Delos Santos suffered a season-ending knee injury in the team’s final practice before the season opener while Tsunashima, who has also been ruled out for the season, sustained a gruesome shin injury on opening day against Adamson last month.

Before the injury, Buena has been a consistent scorer for Ateneo with a total of 36 points on 32 attacks, two blocks, and two aces in five games.

Despite Ateneo dropping five of its first six games, Veloso was proud of the Blue Eagles’ fight against a formidable Lady Spikers’ side.

“You can see this today, La Salle is a strong team, they have strong hitters, and our team played in the same level. The match today is a good match, like against UST it was a very good match, too,” said the Brazilian mentor.

READ: UAAP: Ateneo lose two key cogs to season-ending injuries

“Last season, it’s a little similar, our first round is not so good but after that our team go up. It’s the same as today, I played three to four beginners, it’s their first season…  But I’m so proud of the players because when you look the sets, it’s 15, 16, when you think it’s easy, it’s not easy, our team pushed a lot La Salle, La Salle needed to play hard.”

Lyann De Guzman and AC Miner paced the short-handed Blue Eagles with 16 and 13 points, respectively. But Veloso also lauded his whole crew for stepping up, including Zey Pacia, who had six points.

It may be a tough first round for Ateneo, but Veloso urges the Blue Eagles to keep fighting as they battle winless University of the East on Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“I told my players: okay you need to improve your techniques because if you have a good technique, and you want to play at a high level, these little things can make a big difference,” he said.