Angeline Poyos delivers anew for UST. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
University of Santo Tomas (UST) rose among the teams in its bracket, but coach Kung Fu Reyes will still be pushing his Golden Tigresses for improvements heading into the next round of the Shakey’s Super League Preseason Championship.
“We had a lot of realizations, especially from this game—that there are still things that we still have a lot to improve on,” Reyes said in Filipino after Santo Tomas dealt College of St. Benilde a 25-13, 22-25, 25-12, 25-22 humbling Monday for a sweep of Pool C play at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
“We are actually not looking at our errors anymore [but] the limited movement especially from our middle (blockers).”
With a 3-0 record, the Tigresses not only stopped St. Benilde on its tracks but also got the benefit of a tournament break for them to iron out the kinks in their game as Reyes seeks to keep them sharp while at the same time get his shock troopers in form for game action.“What we need is consistency. That’s what’s most important,” Reyes said.
While the Lady Blazers showed their strengths in keeping UST at bay, the Tigresses’ hitters refused to allow Benilde to maintain their stride.
Lefties Jonna Perdido and Regina Jurado were the difference makers for UST scoring 20 and 19 points, respectively. Rookie Angeline Poyos continued her veteran-like attacking as well with 17 points.
“[I urged my teammates] to just show their level of maturity because that’s what’s important even though they were leading us, you have to show that you’re still solid and you don’t get the nerves,” said Jurado, who is one of the notable holdovers for UST. INQ