DESPITE the absence of team captain Tin Francisco and skipper EJ Laure, the UST Golden Tigresses are still a force to be reckoned with this year, their coach said.
Francisco sustained a left anterior cruciate injury while Laure, who suffered a shoulder injury last season, opted to skip the tournament anew out of respect for the current roster of the Tigresses who have been training all year long.
“Temporary setback sa amin ‘yon pero asahan nila na makikipagbugbugan kami in a sense na maglalaro talaga kami,” UST head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes Jr. told the Varsitarian.
After a disastrous campaign last season, the Tigresses are looking to bounce back this year with a younger core.
Last Season 80, the Tigresses crashed to seventh place behind a 4-10 win-loss record — their worst performance since the Final Four format was introduced.
This year, Reyes said the new-look Tigresses got their much-needed experience from joining pre-season tournaments.
Despite a lineup consisting of eight rookies, the Tigresses still bagged their third-straight Philippine University Games title last October and managed to cop silver in the Philippine Super Liga Collegiate Grand Slam last December.
For Reyes, the Tigresses’ pre-season stints gave the team a big boost for Season 81 in terms of maturity and exposure.
“Ang maturity, na-de-develop ‘yon through experience and based doon sa mga pre-season tournaments namin, unti-unti na nilang na-a-adapt ang sistema, kailangan na lang ng consistency” Reyes said.
He added that the pre-season tournaments helped the team improve on their chemistry and allowed them to cope up with pressure during games.
“’Yong iba kasi camera-conscious masyado, tapos ‘yong iba, umaayaw kaagad kapag maraming tao ang nanonood. I think ‘yong mga pre-season namin nakatulong kasi hopefully, dapat naka-adapt na sila and na-overcome na nila ‘yon, especially the rookies,” Reyes said.
With the Tigresses’ impressive showing in their pre-season stints, the tactician is confident the team will be more competitive this season.
The Tigresses will lean on four-time UAAP beach volleyball Most Valuable Player Sisi Rondina, Season 80 Rookie of the Year Milena Alessandrini, rookie Eya Laure and veteran players Dimdim Pacres and Caitlyn Viray.
In preparation for the upcoming UAAP season, the Tigresses also underwent a training camp in Baguio and Thailand in early January to further hone the team’s skills and techniques.
With one last chance to bag the championship this year, newly-appointed team captain Rondina said she will go all out and treat every game as equally important.
“Lagi namin inaasam ang championship pero hindi namin makukuha ‘yon kung hindi namin pagta-trabahuhan. Kailangan namin dumaan sa butas ng karayom para makuha ‘yon pero stick lang kami sa goal namin at huwag kalimutan lahat ng pinaghirapan namin,” she said.
UAAP volleyball action will begin on Feb. 16 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
