Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
University of Santo Tomas head coach KungFu Reyes said the Golden Tigresses’ loss to University of the Philippines was all about the missed opportunities that could have extended the match to a fifth set.
The Tigresses were down two sets to one but had several chances to extend the match to a deciding fifth set until crucial errors helped the Lady Maroons’ cause.
“We had opportunities to win but some of our spikes went long, like [Rondina’s] attacks and as well as Laure and Tunay’s attacks. Then, [Cortez’s] serve was too strong,” Reyes said after UST slid to 2-4, which is only good for seventh.
Rondina tied the fourth set at 30-30 with a down-the-line attack, just after her wide hit, but it was Cortez’s long service that put the Lady Maroons at match point.
Marian Buitre then finished off UST with an emphatic denial of Rondina.
“Error talaga namin ang nagpapahirap sa amin, papakahirap kaming kumuha ng puntos pero nagbibigay kami ng puntos sa kalaban (Our errors really made it difficult for us to win. We work for our points but we also give our opponents points),” said Reyes, whose team committed 38 errors to UP’s 31.
“Mas prepared UP manalo (UP was more prepared to win). Deserve nila at kino congratulate ko tropa ni (They deserve to win and I congratulate) coach Jerry [Yee] and his crew.”
Another aspect Reyes wants to fix is their slow starts wherein the Tigresses somewhat wait to be down by a couple of sets before playing true to their form.
“Pinipilit naming ma overcome pagiging diesel (We’re really trying to overcome our slow starts). Nagawa namin sa National University pero lahat ng talo laging down 0-2 (We were able to do that against NU but all of our losses, we were down 0-2). ,” Reyes said.