UST coach KungFu Reyes. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas coach KungFu Reyes lamented the officiating in their 20-25, 20-25, 20-25 loss to Ateneo on Tuesday in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena.
Reyes rued what he said were “bad calls” as UST saw its four-game winning streak getting snapped by Ateneo, which handed its first three-set defeat of the season.
“Supposedly, some points should be awarded to us. There’s a lot of unfavorable calls for us,” said the UST coach in Filipino shortly after the game. “We were called for a lot of doubles, but our opponent wasn’t getting those calls. [Vanie] Gandler’s hit that went past the antenna was even scored for the opponent. The officiating was very frustrating.
“Those things broke our momentum. It should not happen in a game because we’re working hard for every point,” he added. “Sabi ko nga sainyo tanghali lang naman maganda eh, yung laro ang pangit, yung tawag ang pangit (the game was ugly, the calls were ugly).”
Besides the officiating, Reyes admitted his wards had an off game with Eya Laure, who averaged 22.8 points per game in the first round, limited to just 14 on 11-of-38 spiking rate.
The Tigresses also gave up 16 errors.
“Every time we got the lead, we committed unforced errors and service errors. In the second and third set, the momentum was on our side but our errors halted it,” he said.
Reyes hopes the officials would have better and fair calls as they approach the tail-end of the elimination round.
“They must commit to doing their job. And be sharp in making calls. Because us coaches and players can see what’s happening. But you can’t challenge it since it’s their judgment,” he said.
The longtime UST coach wants his Tigresses to move on and bounce back against the La Salle Lady Spikers, fighting to gain separation as they are tied at second place with identical 7-3 records.
“This game was not for us. We accepted it. No more drama. I trust my players that they will come back strong and work on their weaknesses,” he said.