THE WHEEL of fortune continues to turn, as collegiate fans witness the heart-stopping UAAP Season 87 Women’s Volleyball action leading up to the highly anticipated Final Four round.
Unlike last year, when the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses gained the twice-to-beat advantage, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers received the bonus after being seeded second this year.
This came after when the Lady Spikers defeated the Golden Tigresses 23-25, 25-20, 30-28, 29-27 in their second-place playoff on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Nonetheless, UST head coach Kungfu Reyes and the rest of his squad have a different perspective on their challenging situation, determined to beat the odds and return to the championship stage.
Still Optimistic
Despite the key loss, which might have a significant impact on their title chase, Reyes is keeping his head up and focusing on the positives of their four-set loss to the Lady Spikers.
“Technically, Best-of-3 ‘to, so may another chance kami. Ang dami naming opportunity, lahat ng nangyari kay La Salle, dapat sa amin yun eh pero sa kanila napunta,” Reyes explained after the game.
“We were up by five, by four, kaya lang, yung unforced errors namin, tapos nabo-block kami. So ang kailangan namin, balikan kung ano yung pwede naming i-counter,” he went on to say.
Last year, the Golden Tigresses advanced to the Season 86 Finals by taking use of their twice-to-beat bonus, defeating the Lady Spikers in the first game of their Final Four meeting. Now, it’s a different story.
One Game At A Time
Meanwhile, the veteran head coach believes they just need two wins to reproduce this, and they must focus on countering the Taft-based squad’s by approaching one game at a time.
“Nasa kamay namin lahat ng adjustment at lahat ng possible corrections na pwede namin bitbitin. The game itself, it’s still everybody’s game. Hindi pangit yung nilaro namin, talagang may kulang lang,” he said.
“Hindi lang tumapat samin this time, pero yung mga kulang na yun, yun ang tatrabahuhin namin.”
“Kailangan maging steady yung pasa namin para, at least, magkaroon kami ng combination, ng decoy, at ma-dismantle yung block ng kabila. Yun yung chance namin na ma-penetrate yung depensa nila,” he added.
All Set
Now that the Final Four has been determined and La Salle has been handed the twice-to-beat advantage, Reyes feels that with the correct amount of grit and effort, his team can turn things around.
“Kailangan composed, may kasamang gigil, at dapat ‘di pa nags-start, alam na nilang mananalo kami. Kumbaga, dapat talunin namin sa mindset pa lang,” he said
“Those things, bitbit na yun kasama ng hard work at sacrifices, para sa Thomasian community. Ilalaban namin ang UST hanggang sa dulo. Sabi nga: ‘Pipiliin lagi,’” he added.
The NU Lady Bulldogs and FEU Lady Tamaraws will face off at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the DLSU Lady Archers and the UST Golden Tigresses at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
