Eya Laure (left) was close to unstoppable despite triple blocks. —UAAP PHOTO
Bernadett Pepito won’t forget how University of Santo Tomas (UST) crumbled — seemingly overnight — after a massive, character-building win in Season 85 of the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament just a month ago.
She swears that the Golden Tigresses won’t let another breakdown happen following a 25-19, 14-25, 25-19, 25-12 victory over the league-leading La Salle Lady Spikers on Wednesday night that, aside from shattering the seeming myth of invincibility surrounding the Lady Spikers, assured that a Final Four will be played.
Pepito was referring to a win over defending champion National University (NU) last March 4 which snapped a 20-game run by the Lady Bulldogs. After that high, the Tigresses were sent to their knees four days later by Adamson in straight sets.
‘We know better’
“We weren’t able to bring the momentum of that win against NU over to our next game. This time, we know better. We have to triple our efforts in preparing for our succeeding matches,’’ said Pepito.
Sunday night saw the Tigresses totally dominate the Lady Spikers, and the question now is: Can they take that form come the next game?
“The break will give us time to reflect. [To ask ourselves] how come our performance dipped after a big win? We will try to remember that defeat and draw inspiration from it,’’ said UST coach Kungfu Reyes.UST’s next assignment is Ateneo on April 15 after the league takes a long break in observance of the Holy Week.
“We took that loss as an inspiration. Our goal is to be in the top 2, so this victory is really crucial,’’ added Pepito.
Loudest growl
Eya Laure was the Tigress that growled the loudest, pummeling the La Salle defense with a season-high 29 attacks as Santo Tomas improved to 7-3 in front of a delighted UST faithful at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Laure’s determination was evident the entire game, and after drilling the match-sealing point off a La Salle double block, raised her right pointing finger to the heavens before shouting “No sweep, no sweep.”
Milena Alessandrini provided Laure the backing she needed with 20 points built on 17 attacks, Cassie Carballo tossed 18 excellent sets and Pepito averted a strong La Salle attack with 25 digs and 11 receptions in their bounce-back win following a previous meltdown also against the Lady Falcons.
Angel Canino led the Lady Spikers with 13 points, including 12 attacks, and eight receptions.
Laure drilled holes in the La Salle defense with impunity, bringing up questions of what could have been had she not twisted an ankle the last time these two schools met in the title series.
The bliss of UST’s first set coup immediately dissipated as the Lady Spikers recovered their bearings in the succeeding frame.
Fifi Sharma slowed down the Tigresses with back-to-back blocks for 14-5, while Baby Jyne Soreno, Canino and Thea Gagate put on the concluding touches in a dominant second set.
“The second set was a wakeup call for us. From that point on, we knew that we cannot do it if we don’t work as a team,’’ said Laure, who connected on 45 percent of her 65 attack attempts.
Laure again boldly imposed herself in the third as they charged in front, only to permit the Lady Spikers to equalize prior to an extensive exchange.
Efforts by Laure and Alessandrini broke the tie for 18-14, before Laure went on to compile four of their last five points with Regina Jurado closing it out with a cross-court strike.
The Tigresses held on and didn’t let go in the fourth and final set with Laure showing the way one last time. Alessandrini was there to help tearing down La Salle’s solid, impenetrable wall.