University of Santo Tomas made all the right decisions after going down two sets to none to the defending champion National University.
For Golden Spikers assistant coach Ben Mape, it was all about pulling the strings at the right time.
The coaching staff of UST replaced starting open spiker Gboy de Vega with Kenneth Salvador in the third set and delivered seven points in limited minutes.
“Actually, lahat ng player namin buo ang tiwala namin sa kanila umpisa pa lang ng UAAP nung pinasok namin sila sa lineup,” said Mape after the Golden Spikers stunned the Bulldogs, 28-30, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-9 on Sunday.
“Ang kailangan lang ay perfect timing, yung sabi nga nila na ‘in God’s perfect time.’ So nag-deliver si Kenneth at the same time, si Gboy naka-recover nung ibinalik doon sa time na kailangang kailangan.”
Mape was referring to De Vega’s clutch performance in the fourth and fifth frames in order to push UST to a 5-4 record at joint-fourth with Ateneo de Manila University.
With UST ahead 23-22 in the fourth, the 22-year-old De Vega came through with a down-the-line kill followed by a sharp spike off an NU floating ball to force a decider.
De Vega also scored three points in the fifth stanza as Josh Ybañez, Popoy Colinares, and Sherwin Umandal also joined the party for the reverse sweep.
“I feel so happy and blessed despite na nag-struggle ako kanina eh hindi nawalan ng tiwala sa akin yung coaches ko. Binalik nila ako kahit dikdikan yung laban,” said De Vega.
“Thankful ako sa coaches kasi hindi nila ako binibitawan kahit hindi maganda yung simula ko.”
De Vega still finished with 11 points and 14 excellent receptions as the Golden Spikers swept the Bulldogs in their head-to-head this elimination round.
The sophomore hitter also credited his teammates for boosting him up despite being benched due to his poor performance in the sets that National U won including the first frame where UST even had a 14-3 lead but crumbled.
“Hindi nag-give up sa akin yung mga coaches ko at teammates ko, sinasabihan nila ako na I need to warm up sa gilid kasi anytime pwede akong ibalik doon and syempre hindi pa tapos yung laban, hindi naman natatapos yung laro sa dalawang sets lang,” shared De Vega.
“Pagbalik nila sa akin, kahit papaano nakapag-contribute ako.”
