Contender mentality: Depleted UST rides strong start ahead of finals return bid

Jonna Perdido and Xyza Gula, two key rotation players in the team’s trip to the finals last year, were knocked out of the season due to leg injuries.

Nevertheless, the team still managed to churn out a solid first round outing —a 5-2 record at third — with a five-game win streak built between the two losses.

“We still need to work more on things, we will work hard for it, since our record was unexpected, and we struggled hard during our first game (against FEU),” team captain Detdet Pepito said after UST’s five-set loss against defending champion NU on Sunday, March 16.

“We had a nice last game and will use this first round performance as a gauge on where we could be for the rest of the way,” she added.

The Tigresses were embarrassed by the FEU Lady Tamaraws in the opening game, before authoring five straight wins, beating out a mix of contenders and underdogs in UE, La Salle, Adamson, UP, and Ateneo.

In the last game, however, the team lost steam when it led 2-1 and yielded the game in five sets against the Lady Bulldogs.

Starring in the game were Reg Jurado (16 points), and playmaker Cassie Carballo (27 excellent sets), while Angge Poyos was held to 13 points.

With the absence of Perdido and Gula, the team was able to convert rookie Marga Altea from a middle blocker to an open hitter — amidst difficulty in transitioning.

Leaning on a next person up mentality, the team will have to lean more on its thinning bench to step up.

“This is our challenge to our bench, they need to step up and provide a ‘gulat’ (surprise) factor,” assistant coach Yani Fernandez said.

“We would like to hopefully have a healthy bench and rotation, since we only use around eight or nine players,” he added.

Although falling short against NU, Pepito is hopeful that the team maintains its momentum.

“The game gave us confidence despite our being short on players, we need to work doubly hard since (NU) is complete, we need to polish.” – Rappler.com