The UST Golden Tigresses put on a dominant performance to sweep the FEU Lady Tamaraws in their season opener, but head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes is demanding more from his players.
“[Maraming] mga unforced errors na kinakailangan naming i-correct pero luckily nanalo [kami] ng straight sets,” Reyes said after the Tigresses’ 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 victory over the Tamaraws.
The Tigresses had to ward off several FEU runs to complete the sweep.
Holding set point in the first period, 24-18, the Tigresses suffered a scare after giving up five straight points, until Lady Tamaraw Jean Asis fired a service error to give UST the first set, 25-23.
The Tigresses started the second set with eight unanswered points, but the Tamaraws responded with a 10-4 blast to trim the UST lead to two, 12-10. UST eventually won the set, 25-20.
The Tigresses were up, 18-10, in the third set when the Lady Tamaraws launched an 8-4 run to trim the lead to four, 22-18. UST won the third, capitalizing on FEU errors, 25-21.
“Hopefully by next game, maging mas consistent na ‘yung gawa o ‘yung trabaho ng players,” Reyes said. “[G]oing forth, i-polish [namin] ‘yung mga dapat i-polish, i-correct ‘yung mga lapses namin.”
Team captain Eya Laure said she was elated with the chemistry the Tigresses displayed in their first game in two years.
“[N]gayon lang ulit kami nakatapak sa UAAP court…pero ayun nga, ‘di pa rin kami bumibitaw hanggang sa dulo, nandoon kami para sa isa’t-isa,” said Laure, who scored a game-high 14 points on Thursday. “At ayun naman ‘yung lumabas sa game na ito, nakita natin na nagtutulungan kami.”
As team captain and one of the team’s few veterans, Laure said she would use her experience to help the team’s newcomers adapt to the UAAP level and shake off their pandemic rust.
“‘Yung experience na hindi mapapantayan basta-basta, ‘yun ‘yung isa na [kailangan] para mas matatag, mas maging composed kapag naglalaro,” she said.
UST’s victory over the FEU Tamaraws on Thursday came 26 months after the Tigresses clashed against the Lady Tamaraws in the final game of the upended UAAP Season 82, which also resulted in a sweep.
