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MANILA, Philippines — With their backs against the wall and with the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball Final Four race heating up, University of Santo Tomas relied on Regina Jurado, who scored crucial points Wednesday to snap the Golden Tigresses’ three-game losing streak.
Entering Wednesday’ matchup with Adamson, the Golden Tigresses lost their past three games and dropped to 5-4 in the season, barely holding on to the fourth spot.
And they had to face a tough opponent in high-scoring Shai Nitura and the Adamson Lady Falcons.
Trailing two sets to one, and behind 24-25 in the fourth set after a Nitura hit, Jurado scored three straight points to force the deciding fifth set.
And in the fifth set, she scored four points, including the match-winning block on Nitura to secure the 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-8 victory.
Jurado finished with 20 points on 15 attacks, four blocks and a service ace to go with 18 excellent digs and four receptions. She finished second in scoring for UST behind Angge Poyos’ 27 points.
After the match, Jurado said that she was focused on grabbing the win, since they may have a hard time battling for a Final Four spot if they lost.
“Yun nga po, mindset ko talaga nun is kailangan naming manalo. Kasi if matatalo po kami, hirap na po talaga makabalik sa top four,” she told reporters.
“Yung adrenaline ko, the will to win lumalabas po,” she added.
Jurado also said that the victory will give them a much-needed confidence boost as the tournament goes into deep waters.
“Masaya ako kasi kinailangan talaga namin itong win na ito, pampa-boost din ng confidence galing sa three straight losses namin. Very grateful na pinagtiyagaan and kahit down kami ng isang set, napanalo pa rin po namin.”
UST is now holding a 6-4 win-loss record, tied with third-seeded Far Eastern University, with four elimination games remaining.
In their last four elimination round games, the Tigresses will take on Ateneo, University of the East Lady, University of the Philippines and the defending champion National University.
For his part, UST head coach Kung Fu Reyes said he is happy with the way the squad fought back against the young Lady Falcons squad.
“So yun, na-overcome namin yung [mga mali in our past games,] especially dito kami naka-focus ngayong game e. Kasi yung mga natalo namin na game, tapos na yun, may mga takeaways na kami,” he stated.
“Pero ito talaga, ginawan na ng paraan kasi talagang napakahirap kung mawawala sa amin yung panalo na ito. Either or, we will sink or swim. So at least andito pa rin kami sa swim, hindi kami lulubog basta-basta,” he added.
The mentor stressed just how big their loss would be for their semifinal hopes.
“Talagang malaking bagay itong panalo na ito kasi yan yung niremind namin sa kanila, ang laki ng mawawala sa amin if matatalo kami ngayong game na ito. So doon nung narinig nila yun, nag-respond na sila dun.
“Nakapag-execute na kami then we keep trying hanggang maging success yung atake namin,” he added.
“Fortunately na overcome namin yung mga excess baggage na bitbit ng mga bata kasi nag-overthink na somehow. So nagiging stiff na. Bumalik lang ulit sila sa kung anong meron kami. So very thankful na nakuha namin at na-break namin yung losing streak namin.”
The Tigresses will try to keep things rolling as they take on Ateneo on Saturday, 1 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
