To dethrone the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball stepladder semifinals and advance, the UST Golden Tigresses have to find their groove in playing together, their team captain said.
The third-seed Tigresses will face the Blue Eagles, their Season 81 finals rivals, after the latter swept the Adamson Lady Falcons to clinch the fourth seed.
Following UST’s straight-set loss to the NU Lady Bulldogs on June 9 which triggered the stepladder postseason format, team captain Eya Laure said the Tigresses should learn how to play as one.
“[I]tong game na ‘to nakita natin ‘yung capabilities natin pag naglaro tayo as one, and ‘yung tiwala nandun, and nakikita ko naman sa mga mukha nila na hindi naman sila ganon na na-down,” Laure said.
By pummelling the Tigresses, the Lady Bulldogs scored their 14th elimination-round win, automatically qualifying them for a finals slot. The Tigresses, meanwhile, will face Ateneo for a one-off match, wherein the winner will face the twice-to-beat DLSU Lady Spikers for a finals ticket.
“Unlike sa mga talo namin dati na sobrang lugmok talaga, pero nandun sila, willing sila, nakikita ko na willing sila mas bumawi pa sa mga susunod na laro namin and mas galingan pa para ipaglaban ang UST sa Final Four,” Laure said.
In the first round of the eliminations, UST escaped Ateneo in a four-set thriller, 25-19, 25-21, 29-31, 33-31.
The Blue Eagles retaliated in the second round with a sweep of the Tigresses, 20-25, 20-25, 20-25.
UST head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes Jr. said the team would bank on the experience it gained throughout the elimination round in the postseason.
“Yung experience sa 14 games, especially dun sa mga rookies, ‘yung mga learning na nakuha namin, ‘yun ang bibitin namin towards stepladder,” he said.
In Season 81, the Blue Eagles bagged the championship against the Sisi Rondina-led Tigresses in thre games.
UST and Ateneo will clash at 6:30 p.m today at the Mall of Asia Arena. James Paul Gomez
