String of KO matches starts with Tigresses-Lady Tams clash for No. 4
Far Eastern University on Wednesday had to wait for hours to know that it will play on in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament.
The Lady Tamaraws lived to fight another day courtesy of another team, taking the Smart Araneta Coliseum floor on Saturday against a side they haven’t beaten in two games.
University of Santo Tomas stands on the opposite side of the floor as the Golden Tigresses and the Lady Tams dispute No. 4 seeding and the right to face third-ranked Adamson in the first phase of the stepladder semifinals starting next week.
The Tigresses won two elimination round clashes with the Tamaraws in just a combined seven sets, that’s why Far Eastern coach Tina Salak likes to think that they are the underdogs in the 3 p.m. contest.
“We know it won’t be easy with all the struggles we faced. Against UST on Saturday, it’s about playing with heart, but more than that, we all need to be on the same page about what we want,” Salak said in Filipino after watching the Tigresses lose a pulsating five-setter to National University that kept the Tamaraws in the fight.
Grabbing the chance
It’s a chance at Season 88 life extension that Salak said they won’t waste.
“We’ll grab it—no questions, no reasons. This is what we prepared for,” Salak said.
Santo Tomas, which blew a 2-0 lead on Wednesday against the defending champion Lady Bulldogs, has no time to deal with that tough loss. The Tigresses need to shift their focus on extending their semis appearance streak to six seasons.
“The loss hurts, but we have to move on right away,” Santo Tomas star Angge Poyos, after pouring in 24 points, 15 receptions and nine digs in a 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-13 loss to National U, said in Filipino. “We’ll come in more confident on Saturday because our fate is in our hands. That’s what we’ll hold on to, giving our best no matter what.
“We just have to give everything, our 101 percent and not doubt ourselves,” the prolific scorer continued. “It’s a do-or-die game and we know FEU will come back strong. We won’t just let this slip. We really want to make the Final Four. We’ll stay patient and just perform at our best.”
Star libero Detdet Pepito and Jonna Perdido, whose brilliance off the bench in the fifth set against National U almost turned the tide, are playing their last season with the Tigresses and would obviously want this to last as long as it can.
