Tougher road to four-peat for La Salle after loss to FEU

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Defending champion De La Salle could’ve sealed its twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four had it beaten No. 4 Far Eastern University in its final game in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament.

The Lady Spikers couldn’t pull it off after the Lady Tamaraws spoiled the fun with a five-set stunner, 25-22, 13-25, 15-25, 27-25, 15-8, Sunday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Instead of marching on to the semifinals with already the all-important privilege in tow, La Salle will have to face University of Santo Tomas first in a playoff for the second seed after the two teams finished the elimination round with identical 10-4 cards.

DLSU head coach Ramil De Jesus told his players to just forget about the loss and instead fix the mistakes ahead of its duel against the Golden Tigresses.

“I told them to not think about the loss today because it would be hard for us on Wednesday if we’re still carrying the burden of today’s game,” said De Jesus in Filipino.

“What’s important for us is their performance today, it wasn’t that all bad and there were just wrong decisions made along the way. The players also made some good decisions during the game.”

De Jesus, though, admitted the playoff against the Golden Tigresses is an added concern for them in their path for a fourth straight title.

“This is a big thing for us, but we just have to accept it,” said De Jesus. “FEU wanted the win more today. We can’t just ask them to give us the win, that won’t be it. If we want to win, we have to work hard for it.”

“We won’t get the four-peat if we don’t work hard for it.”