The UAAP Season 80 Volleyball tournament is in full swing and the action in the league is getting more intense. Five setter matches have been incredibly frequent and upsets have been pulled off a number of times — eight to be exact.
After a tight four set match yesterday between the NU Lady Bulldogs and the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses, coach Kungfu Reyes still thinks that it may have been a loss for UST but it was still one heck of an entertaining match.
“Uuwi kami ng malungkot [dahil talo] na medyo masaya in the sense na maganda yung binigay naming laban. Hindi boring. Up to the last point nagsisigawan mga tao sa amin. Good for the spectator and both teams, sa mga supporters ng UAAP at ng UST,” he said after his team’s valiant stand against the league-leaders.
“Talagang babalik at babalik sila to support the UST Golden Tigresses.”
They almost forced a fifth set when they lead by as much as 14-8 but their errors did them in. Nonetheless, Sunday’s match still exhibited the prowess they have in Sisi Rondina who poured in 25 points despite NU focusing on containing her. What they lacked was a consistent supporting cast.
“Pumapantay si Sisi kay Jaja [Santiago] pero kailangan namin ng support eh.
“This time tinitignan ko sa stat, si Carla [Sandoval] nag double digit, 12 points. Yung missing ko yung kabilang side uli eh. So yun talaga yung kailangan namin i-compensate kung saan kami kukuha ng additional,” Reyes added.
The Golden Tigresses are now at a 2-3 standing and Reyes is in nowhere near disappointed. Instead, he is very proud of what his team has been showing.
“Dati natatalo kami talagang talo eh, wala kang magawa. Pero this time yung intense yung laban, ‘di na lang sa breaks of the game pero lapses na lang namin. Mai-correct lang namin yung lapses na yun kaya na naming gawan ng paraan,” the enlisted Army personnel expressed.
“Natatalo kami pero mayroon kaming natutunan. Yun ang importante.”
The teams in the UAAP this season created an atmosphere where anyone can actually bag a win regardless of your record. This is why Reyes is not one to take the 1-4 University of the Philippines, their next opponent on Wednesday, lightly.
“Di mo rin masabi kahit sila [UP] pababa. Everybody’s game eh. No one dominates the league, siguro as of now NU nag do-dominate but it is too early to predict,” he shared.
“May second round pa para mai-tama lahat.”
