Desiree Cheng. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—De La Salle skipper Desiree Cheng had a curious reason for having one her worst offensive outputs in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament.
Cheng finished with just two points in the Lady Spikers’ five-set loss to Far Eastern University, 25-22, 13-25, 15-25, 27-25, 15-8, and head coach Ramil De Jesus said the poor performance stemmed from a stray cat.
De Jesus said Sunday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan that a stray cat scratched Cheng during the weekend and the outside spiker had to miss several days of practice after being vaccinated.
“Des got scratched by a cat during the weekend so she was given anti-tetanus and anti-rabies, so I gave her the time off during a few days of practices” said De Jesus in Filipino.
Cheng averaged 10.4 points per game prior to the loss to the Lady Tamaraws and her two-point production was her second-worst offensive performance after she scored one point against—as fate had it—FEU in La Salle’s 25-15, 25-19, 26-24 sweep in her return from a one-game absence due to an injury in her right shoulder.
La Salle’s loss, however, couldn’t be solely attributed to Cheng.
The Lady Spikers’ defense discombobulated in the fifth set, and coupled with crucial errors, the Lady Tamaraws just took advantage.
Heather Guino-o scored on two perfectly placed off-speed kills that gave FEU a 14-7 lead and Jolina Dela Cruz’ final hit sailed way off the out of bounds line giving the Lady Tamaraws the victory.
The loss sent La Salle to a 10-4 record and the defending champion, instead of sealing the second seed and the twice-to-beat advantage, would now play University of Santo Tomas, also at 10-4, in a playoff for the No. 2 spot in the standings heading into the Final Four.
De Jesus said his team should not be playing in their opponent’s pace and that they should at least match the intensity if not exceed it.
“When an opponent gets that good of a start we should also play at that kind of level or even better,” said De Jesus.