When Trisha Genesis signed with Premier Volleyball League club team Akari during the offseason, she left a huge hole to fill at Adamson University.
And so far in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament, it has been Kate Santiago that’s trying to fill the gap and is very successful in it.
The 5-foot-6 outside spiker just led the Lady Falcons to another victory on Wednesday, this time a huge one over high-morale University of Santo Tomas via a straight-sets demolition in just one hour and 12 minutes, 25-15, 25-17, 25-19.
She tallied a game-high 13 points on 11 attacks and two service aces while also getting six excellent receptions.
“Yung ginawa po namin inappply lang po namin kung ano yung ginawa namin sa training saka pinagaralan din po namin sila kung ano yung dapat gawin namin sa times na papalo sila, saan kami pupwesto,” said Santiago on what Adamson did to tame the Golden Tigresses, who just broke National U’s 20-game winning streak last Saturday.
After the Wednesday playdate, Santiago found herself as the fifth-best scorer in the league 58 total points or an average of 14.5 points in her four outings.
More importantly, the Lady Falcons are tied for the second spot with the Lady Bulldogs behind identical 3-1 records.
But more than the scoring, head coach Jerry Yee said what he needs more from Santiago and the rest of his squad is a good first ball for setter Louie Romero to set up their plays.
And the 21-year-old pride of Zamboanga City has been delivering in that department as well, heeding the call of Yee.
“Ang hanap ko yung sasalo ng first ball. Yun yung kailangan ko kay Kate yung first ball para makaexecute kami ng play,” said Yee when asked about the performance of Santiago.
“So far nagdedeliver sila. I’ve seen the stats and nandoon naman sila, nagde-deliver naman yung mga na-assign natin doon so we’re happy but of course we have to work forward, dami pang games eh.”
Santiago is currently 10th in the Best Receivers list with 34 excellent receptions on a 29.79 percent efficiency. She is also 10th in digging.
Adamson as a team is third in the league in both receiving and digging as well.
