On verge of elimination, UP not losing hope

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

It’s no question that University of the Philippines is a whim away from getting eliminated from the Final Four race in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament but Okumu is not letting go of the Lady Maroons’ year just yet.

UP dropped to the seventh seed with a dangerous 3-8 record and its chances for a Final Four spot are abysmal that it can only be described as “mathematical.”

Okumu, however, is determined to go all out until the end.

“I still have three games to play, until I play those games I don’t want to talk about next season,” said Okumu Saturday at Filoil Flying V Centre. “We have come so far and I believe we can get better. If these games would happen across three or four months, you’ll see that we can be a better team.”

“I still want to win, I want to win and finish strong. That’s what we have to train for.”

The Lady Maroons’ latest loss were against third-seeded Far Eastern University with the Lady Tamaraws taking the match in four sets, 21-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-22.

Okumu added the steady build-up of losses on their card have become a common event that folding to other teams almost became a norm for the Lady Maroons.

“It’s not easy to lose, nobody wants to lose,” said Okumu whose team dropped their third straight game.

“Everybody wants to play hard and win games. I believe that we prepared well, but sometimes if we don’t stick to the game plan then we have no choice but to really face the music of losing.”