MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
The University of Santo Tomas (UST)’s hopes in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament were always going to pass through La Salle.
But it was undoubtedly a stunning upset against Far Eastern University (FEU) last Saturday that dented the Tigresses’ quest for two-time Final Four protection.
Although UST coach KungFu Reyes sees things differently.
“We didn’t lose the match, we learned from it,” Reyes said in Filipino, after losing a five-set match to the Lady Tamaraws over the weekend. “We reminded (the players) to look straight, head up. We lost, but we have takeaways moving forward.
READ: UAAP: Race for top two tightens after NU finally beats La Salle
The Final Four cast is complete and it is the final ranking of the semi-finalists that will be decided during the last two weeks of the preliminary round.
Itching for revenge
And for UST (10-2, win-loss), La Salle (9-2) and National University (NU) (10-2), the goal is to place in the top two.
How many wins are needed to qualify for playoff protection without complications? 12.
UST, which has led the majority of the tournament, is 10-2 (win-loss) with two games remaining, meaning it would need to sweep its remaining matches to get to 12 wins. And one of those matches will be against the defending champions, who were itching for revenge after losing a heartbreaker in five sets to the Tigresses in the first round.
NU’s 22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-22 victory over La Salle last Sunday left the teams in the top three with two losses each. And because of this FEU upset, at least one of the top three teams will end up with three losses, making the UST-La Salle showdown a deciding factor. The Lady Bulldogs appear to have the advantage after coming back from the two teams that beat them in the first round. NU is so far undefeated in the second round.
“This win against La Salle gives us a huge confidence boost, knowing that they are a champion team,” NU star Bella Belen said in Filipino after her team’s latest win. “What we still need is consistency since we still have elimination games left.”
Easier missions
The Lady Bulldogs will have relatively easier closing assignments as they will next face the eliminated Adamson before finishing the preliminaries against the Lady Tamaraws.
UST faces University of the East before taking on La Salle.
The Lady Spikers, meanwhile, have Adamson, fierce rival Ateneo and UST as their final three foes.
“We tell the Lady Spikers that what we are going to experience in the next few games will not be easy,” La Salle assistant coach Noel Orcullo said. “We have to work hard to get the double.”
Star scorer Angel Canino remains doubtful for La Salle after being sidelined with an undisclosed arm injury.
FEU is mathematically looking for an incentive to beat twice, but in reality the fight should come down to the current top three teams.
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The Lady Tamaraws are using the Final Four as a platform to resurrect FEU’s glory days in the sport. INQ
