MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
University of Santo Tomas (UST) couldn’t have gotten off to a greater start within the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament.
Angge Poyos wants greater than that.
“We had a fantastic begin to the season; I hope we will end it in a fantastic way, too,” Poyos, the smashing rookie Tigress, said late Sunday after leading her team to a nerve-testing 25-20, 16-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-7 victory over La Salle during their Final 4 showdown at Mall of Asia Arena.
READ: UAAP: Deja vu for UST but Tigresses eye different final result
And there might be no higher strategy to end the season beautifully than to win the ladies’s volleyball crown again after a 14-year wait.
Heavyweights
The last time the event’s traditional heavyweights won the title was in 2010 with a roster that just about mirrors this latest version of the Tigresses.
UST was then led by Rhea Dimaculangan, a quick-thinking setter also known for her strong service game, and Aiza Maizo, a left-handed spiker. This 12 months’s team features the league’s best setter and server, Cassie Carballo, and two lefty hitters who bedeviled the Lady Spikers into surrendering their title—Jonna Perdido and Reg Jurado.
“I actually have a sense that we will bring the crown back to España if we remain hardworking in all our trainings and games,” Perdido said, referring to the boulevard fronting their school’s historic campus. Perdido finished with 18 points as she again tormented La Salle along with her attacking.
And like that 2010 squad, the present Tigresses have enough talent of their young roster, led by the inimitable Poyos, who finished with 28 points on Sunday. “I’m blissful because that is my first season and I’m grateful that we carried ourselves … to the Finals,” said Poyos, whose total was built around 25 kills, two aces and a block.
The Tigresses, despite having certainly one of the smallest attack corps within the league, burst out of the gates blazing, winning their first eight games and holding on to first place until getting stunned by Far Eastern University (FEU) late within the second round.
READ: UAAP: UST hopes semblance to 2010 title team results in championship
But UST kept its poise and negated its lack of height with excellent court coverage and quite a lot of attacks. A loss to National University (NU) had the team on the sting, however the Tigresses bounced back strong with a four-set win over La Salle to shut out the elimination round with the No. 2 seed and twice-to-beat protection.
The Tigresses didn’t must fish out that card.
UST has certainly one of the youngest rosters within the league, with Detdet Pepito, the team’s captain and chief libero, having probably the most UAAP experience as a junior.
A lot of the names on the roster are freshmen and sophomores.
“We proved ourselves to doubters, right in our very first game,”Pepito said.
Not one of the Tigresses were across the last time UST made the Finals in 2019, where the college lost to a tall Ateneo squad in a series that went the gap.
That point, UST also ousted La Salle within the Final 4.
“People say history repeated itself,” UST coach KungFu Reyes said. “This time, we hope to alter the result. We just must work hard. After which possibly, we will get lucky within the Finals.”
UST had to attend for its Finals opponent after FEU dragged NU to a deciding duel of their half of the semifinal duel. The highest seed Lady Bulldogs and No. 4 Lady Tamaraws face off on Wednesday for the last championship berth.
The Tigresses will use the waiting period to get even higher.
“We’re here anyway, might as well give it our all,” Reyes said. “We’ll pour all the things that we’ve got left. The most effective [way] is to work hard every single day, more on repetitions.” INQ
