The rested and weary
There’s no doubt that the past week in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament has been all about University of Santo Tomas—at how doggedly the Growling Tigresses have scratched and clawed their way in clinging to dear life.
They enter another stretch of the same, and the stakes this time have gotten bigger and their foes fiercer.
Santo Tomas’ Cinderella run will be put to its toughest test on Saturday when it battles defending champion National University for a place in the best-of-three title series at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao where the Lady Bulldogs will return to action after watching the playoff fireworks for more than the past week.
That could work against the favor of the defending champions, as they have just one shot at advancing to the Finals but will be without legitimate game action since beating this same Santo Tomas team in five gripping sets two Wednesdays ago to sew up No. 2 slot.
The Tigresses, on the other hand, were pushed to two KO matches—against Far Eastern and then Adamson—before they got to this point of the stepladder.
And coach Shaq delos Santos knows what his wards needs to keep doing.
“We need to triple our efforts,” Delos Santos said in Filipino. “We know that NU is a hard-fighting team and they will never back down.”
Delos Santos also pointed out to one positive that his Tigresses can take into their 3 p.m. clash.
“I was very happy with our last game against NU (even if we lost),” Delos Santos said. “We almost got that one and I think we can change that result (for the KO game). We will work very hard to do it.”
National U prevailed with a 15-13 score in the fifth set, as the Bulldogs completed a rally from two sets down by pouncing on some erratic plays by the Tigresses in the stretch.
Championship poise
That poise when pressure is at its highest—in the biggest of games—is what has characterized the successful National U program dating to the eras of Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon.
“We have to prepare not just physically, but mentally,” National U coach Regine Diego said. “Hopefully we can take advantage of being No. 2 because we still have time to perfect and address our mistakes.”
National U is one of three teams that Santo Tomas failed to beat in the elimination round. The other two being finalist La Salle and Adamson, which the Tigresses took down in three impressive sets on Wednesday.
“We will approach that game the way we approached the Adamson game,” Santo Tomas attacker Reg Jurado said with a mix of Filipino. “We will take motivation from those losses in the eliminations.”
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