For the young University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses, they knew that elusive first loss would eventually find them this season, it’s just a matter of when.
On Sunday evening, they finally faced the jaws of defeat as National University whipped them in four sets, 25-23, 17-25, 21-25, 20-25 in a packed SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Head coach Kungfu Reyes offered no excuses but emphasized how this loss happened at a good time as the Golden Tigresses still have five more games in the second round.
“No reasons or alibi kung bakit kami natalo ngayon, talagang nagkulang kami sa department ng depensa, yung blocking namin ganon din sa service namin. Those things na hindi quality ng isang team na kayang ipanalo yung game,” said Reyes after the two-hour, 18-minute match.
“Ang maganda naman, as early as second game ng second round, naramdaman na namin o nakita na namin na yung breaking point na tinatawag namin nagkasalubong kami.”
UST fell to 8-1 but is still atop the league standings. However, De La Salle University and NU are closing in at 7-1 and 7-2, respectively.
Although unbeaten no more, Reyes saw this as an opportunity for the youthful Golden Tigresses to grow even further this season.
(C) Mia Montayre/UAAP Season 86 Media Team
“Ni-remind ko rin sila kanina sa dugout, dati kasi we lose a point, we lose a set, but do not lose your character. This time, we lose a game, definitely dapat hindi mawala yung character na meron kami,” said the long-time UST coach.
“Inaano naman namin ito hinihintay namin, hindi lang namin alam nung nakaraan kung kailan darating, ito na nangyari na sa harapan namin at least ano bang pwede pa naming ibigay sa mga bata o sila mismo ano pang pwede nilang gawin,” he continued.
Sensational rookie Angge Poyos, who was not at 100 percent due to the incident she faced last game against Ateneo de Manila University, experienced defeat for the first time in her UST career as well.
But instead of dwelling on it, the 20-year-old open hitter is already looking forward to turning this setback into fuel as they aim to start another winning streak after the Holy Week break.
“Hindi naman natatapos dito lahat. Still, nasa top pa rin kami 8-1 so ang need lang namin gawin is mag bounce back and ayun yung mga kulang namin na need namin iimprove gagawin namin,” said Poyos, who still finished with a team-high 18 points.
“Siguro yung talo namin ngayon gagawin na lang naming motivation sa mga susunod na games.”
UST will clash with Adamson University when action resumes on April 3 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
