After laying everything on the floor, Tigresses exit proudly
A bronze medal wasn’t what University of Santo Tomas (UST) had in mind when Season 87 of the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament started. But considering the hurdles they had to overcome, the Golden Tigresses are still happy to take a medal of any color back home to España.
“I can’t elaborate on all of the challenges we faced, but we dealt with them together, nonetheless,” coach KungFu Reyes said late Saturday night. “All of the uncertainties of the team, aside from the injuries, especially the talent that we have now, we found ways to still rise despite the limited player pool.
“This wasn’t the ending we wanted, but this is what was given to us,” Reyes added. “This is where our sacrifices took us.”
Even before the start of this season, Reyes already lost vital cogs Jonna Perdido and Xyza Gula to injuries. As the season unfolded, the names that were supposed to fill in the gaps their absences created also suffered minor injuries that worsened UST’s manpower woes.
But despite that, the Tigresses were still considered strong title contenders, and they played that way by maintaining a comfortable position at the top half of the standings.
“Our first goal was based on the reality of what we can achieve, which is to get a spot in the Final Four,” Reyes said.
“But what we really wanted was to return to the Finals, which we strived for almost every day with all the adjustments and possible positioning of our players,” he went on. “We are still very thankful to end up with a podium finish.”
Santo Tomas wrapped the eliminations with a similar record to La Salle, with the Lady Spikers taking twice-to-beat advantage convincingly in a playoff.
La Salle didn’t even need to fish the semis perk out of its pocket, disposing of the España-based squad in just a game in their semifinal pairing, 25-22, 11-25, 25-21, 25-21, to return to the Finals opposite defending champion National University.
Farewell game?
The loss could be the final game that skipper Detdet Pepito and undersized but effective middle blocker Pia Abbu played in a black-and-gold uniform, although the two remained mum on their next plans—though Reyes still hopes to see them back for another year.
Santo Tomas now looks forward to hosting Season 88 with its valuable talents coming back as the Tigresses unveil newcomers they hope will make impacts.
“We still had a podium finish, something we can still be proud of,” Reyes said. “So we’ll return next year, hopefully to overachieve. We really tried with our very best, but we fell short.”
