UAAP volleyball: UST Tigresses counter height with heart in taking down La Salle

UST Tigresses in their game against La Salle Lady Spikers in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament. –UAAP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines —They may not have the tallest line-up, but the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses showed on Sunday just how much heart they have to overcome that.

In a battle dubbed by UST coach KungFu Reyes as David vs Goliath, UST denied the defending champion La Salle’s comeback with a hard-earned 25-18, 25-23, 14-25, 16-25, 15-12 win before 12,240 fans at Mall of Asia Arena.

Detdet Pepito believes their desire to win outweighed La Salle’s height advantage as the Tigresses seized a 3-0 lead, becoming the lone unbeaten team so far in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament.

SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 86 volleyball first round

“We really want to prove this season that it’s not all about height to win volleyball games. For me, we showed how much heart we have this game and this season,” said the UST libero captain, who protected the floor with 12 digs and 18 excellent receptions.

WATCH: Detdet Pepito on leading the Golden Tigresses. #UAAPSeason86 | @LanceAgcaoilINQ pic.twitter.com/RROwWQvLh4

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“As they say, this is really a battle of who wants to win more and we wanted it more this time.”

Pepito, the reigning UAAP Best Libero, has been vital in UST’s unbeaten run. She tallied 16 digs and 12 receptions when UST stunned National University last week and delivered 12 digs and 13 receptions against University of the East last Wednesday.

READ: Promising trio has UST Tigresses off to roaring start in UAAP volleyball

Although they took down the finalists of the past two seasons, the third-year defensive specialist stressed they still need to work on their lapses as the Tigresses blew a two-set lead and allowed the Lady Spikers to force a decider.

“We really lost [our rhythm] in the third and fourth sets. So I reminded them about our goals, why we’re playing and how we’re able to win the first two sets,” said Pepito. “We may be lacking a bit in experience, but hopefully with this game we’re able to gain and improve moving forward.”

Despite their strong start in the post-Eya Laure era, Pepito reminds the Tigresses to continue taking it one game at a time for them to reach their goals.

“We just keep on coming back to what our goal is this season. First, we need to win every game before we get to the Final Four and the Finals,” said Pepito as they have a week before facing Far Eastern University next week.