After going through peaks and valleys in a matter of weeks, the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons are again looking tremendous after completing a season sweep of the defending champs De La Salle University Lady Spikers.
Unlike their first-round match-up, UP romped La Salle and turned in one of their best performances of the UAAP Season 81 Women’s Volleyball tournament.
Now at 5-3 and locked with three other teams in the same spot in the standings, UP look to keep improving towards their championship aspirations.
“Is this the peak of UP? No. I still feel there’s more to come,” said UP head coach Godfrey Okumu.
“We still can play better. It’s just a matter of time. But, again it was a good game. It’s our lucky day today. It’s our day today. Thank you for reminding me.”
The Kenyan mentor has seen his team go through the rigors of the season. He’s confident that they have learned from their low points.
“I believe so [that we’re mentally stronger]. We had our fair share of misfortunes coming through to the first round, that we’re happy that thirteen of us are here today,” he continued.
“We are learning from these kind of situations and then I believe mentally we’re growing. And, if we have the same mentality towards the next games, I think the results will favor us.”
Graduating setter Ayel Estrañero affirmed UP’s now-stronger mindset.
“I think the losses we had in the first round are the main reasons why we’re mentally strong. As in, we’re not in our perfect mental state, but it was something we learned a lot from. And it also made us realize how stronger we can be if we just try to help each other and just be mentally tough inside the court,” said the graduating skipper.
“The first round really helped us to be mentally stronger, but there’s more to improve.”
