It was the rematch that waited 10 years to happen, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype.
A much more experience La Salle, owner of 10 UAAP women’s volleyball titles, dispatched Far Eastern University in three sets Game 1 of the Season 80 Finals on Friday.
Compared to the Lady Spikers’ ninth straight finals stints, the Lady Tamaraws’ last title round appearance was in Season 71, and that championship disparity showed in their series opener.
READ: La Salle nears 3-peat, pounces on error-prone FEU in Game 1
“I told the players that whenever someone commits a service error on a crucial point it means that he or she isn’t that confident,” said Pascua in Filipino after the 29-27, 25-21, 25-22 loss . “You should have experience for that kind of scenario.”
Pascua’s words were what actually happened in the Lady Tamaraws’ last possession.
Heather Guino-o stepped up to FEU’s service line, with the Lady Tamaraws down 24-22 in the third set, and her ensuing attempt landed straight to the net giving La Salle the victory.
“I told them that they should never ever lose their composure because we don’t have anything to lose,” said Pascua.
FEU’s inexperience also became a glaring statistic as the Lady Tamaraws committed 34 errors and 17 of those were in the first set.
Making things worse for the Lady Tamaraws was the fact that they had more attack points, 37, than La Salle, 29.
“We had so many errors and that’s why we lost to La Salle,” said Pascua whose team is gunning for its 30th title. “I told my players that I’m not threatened with whoever our opponent is, I’m threatened more if we commit so many errors.”