Tigresses still deliver amid prelims at UST

THE UST Golden Tigresses swept the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball first round at 7-0, posting its best start in the league’s Final Four era after staving off the Adamson Lady Falcons 25-18, 22-25, 25-15, 28-26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, March 16.

As historic as that feat is, coach Kungfu Reyes admitted he was worried that his players might not be able to deliver, especially on Saturday due to their academic responsibilities, since its prelims week at UST.

“Of course, we’re happy [to get the win and sweep the first round]. There’s still a long way to go but luckily we’re 7-0 in the first round. It’s going to be a tougher challenge come the second round. The players are playing superb despite its prelims week,” said Reyes.

“We’re worried that the players might not be able to perform because they’ve been sleepdeprived [due to their academic responsibilities]. They’ve just been holding on to our system. It’s really a collective team effort with a little bit of luck at the end.”

While having bagged seven wins in as many games is certainly huge for UST, super rookie Angge Poyos knows that the going will only get tougher from here on out and they need to keep working to make the Final Four.

“We started the first round with a win and we’re grateful that we ended it with a win. I know we still have a lot to work on. We can’t relax because there’s still second round,” said Poyos, who racked up 18 points including the clincher against Adamson.

Cliche as it may sound, one game at a time is the key for the Golden Tigresses according to setter Cassie Carballo who tossed 22 excellent sets in the game.

“We’re grateful to have accomplished 7-0 albeit we don’t really have expectations for this season [since we’re in a rebuilding mode]. We’re just taking it one game at a time,” said Carballo.