San Sebastian’s scrappy floor coverage also got credit for the victory. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
San Sebastian College-Recoletos (SSC-R) has an optimistic way of looking at miscues.
Lapsing into a slow, erratic start, the Lady Stags recalibrated their game by setting in-game targets on the way to a 25-20, 21-25, 25-20, 25-12 triumph against Jose Rizal University (JRU) in the Shakey’s Super League Preseason Championship on Monday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
“[Unfortunately,] we’re always letting our foe get ahead of us although we have the capacity to gain the advantage,” SSC-R assistant coach Clint Malazo told the Inquirer. “But what if we don’t get to regain our footing? So that’s why we still need to work out [our lapses] from the first set.”
The Lady Bombers took advantage of a confused Lady Stags to gain a strong 8-1 start before Kat Santos provided the firepower to shift the momentum to San Sebastian.
Acknowledging the need to see improvement from the Lady Stags’ second unit, Malazo, who stepped up for head coach Roger Gorayeb, urged his wards to set micro goals to keep them on their toes.
“I told them that ‘we should establish a target every set,’ such as reaching a specific score first; because if we don’t have a target, we would just be playing aimlessly and not giving any effort,” Malazo said.
“At least [by having a target], they (Lady Stags) have an extra push. Good thing they applied it in the fourth set, [where] we went for the win.”
Malazo knows the importance of getting their first win against another NCAA squad as this could serve as a barometer on how the Lady Stags stand in their preparations for a stronger competition.
But the soft-spoken mentor also knows that this is only just the beginning for his young squad.
“[It] was a good start … Although there is still a long way to go and a lot can still happen, they (JRU) can still improve or we (SSC-R) might still improve [but] at least we have a psychological advantage [over them] already,” Malazo added.
Despite getting contributions from hitters Santos, who had 20 points on 16 kills, ZJ Deposoy, 18 and Tina Marasigan, 13, the SSC-R mentor credits their good start to a stable defense and setters—specifically Von Dimaculangan. INQ