UST libero Bernadett Pepito. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Bernadett Pepito fulfilled her promise after her superb floor defense helped University of Santo Tomas pull off a stunner over La Salle in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Pepito backstopped Eya Laure, who fired a season-high 29 points, with 25 digs and 11 excellent receptions in UST’s 25-19, 14-25, 25-18, 25-12 victory, which put a chink in La Salle’s armor.
Her motivation? Their loss to Adamson last week.
“Yung Adamson, wala na yun eh. Talagang ginawa naming inspiration yung pagkatalo namin dun at actually, pinangako ko, nangako ako sa sarili ko na, kahit sa team na, wag na tayo magpatalo kasi eto nga, yung resulta, kaya naman namin basta tulungan,” said Pepito after the game.
(Our loss was an inspiration to us. Actually, I promised myself and my teammates not to lose this game. And it worked as we got this result, which showed that we can as long as we help each other.)
The pint-sized libero said their preparation against La Salle worked wonders for her to help UST force a Final Four format in the semifinals.
“What I did in training paid off. Because we really worked hard in the past week and we were able to execute our preparation,” she said in Filipino.
Eya Laure and the UST Tigresses celebrate during a game against the La Salle Lady Spikers in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament at Araneta Coliseum. UAAP PHOTO
After taking down the league leaders, Pepito hopes this is the start of their continuous rise to the standings even if they will take a Holy Week break.
Pepito, who is on her second year, assured that their mistakes when they failed to carry the momentum from ending National University’s 20-game winning streak in the first round will not happen again.
“Unlike round one when we beat NU but failed to bring the momentum in the following game against Adamson, I hope this time and I feel that we can [keep this momentum going] because we will triple the effort in training,” said Pepito.
UST, which holds a 7-3 record at No. 3, resumes its campaign on April 15 against Ateneo at Philsports Arena.