UAAP: Poyos not thinking about individual play amid hot start

UST Tigresses’ Angge Poyos.–UAAP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Angge Poyos has been on a scoring tear in her rookie year with the University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament.

And with the way Poyos has been dominating the league so far, she could follow in the footsteps of rookie-MVPs in National University’s Bella Belen and La Salle’s Angel Canino. Though, Poyos is not aiming for any individual accolades as her scoring prowess was built by her determination to contribute to the rebuilding Tigresses.

“Ang mindset ko is maglaro lang and mag-contribute sa team. Yun ang pinakaimportante,” said Poyos after tallying a new career-high 26 points in UST’s 25-19, 25-16, 25-19 win over Ateneo at Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.

@inquirersports The UST Tigresses rock custom Kobe 8. Angge Poyos, Reg Jurado, and Cassie Carballo share the story behind the unique pair. #uaapvolleyball #fyp #tiktokph #volleyball #sports #ust ♬ original sound – INQUIRER Sports

“Hindi naman importante yung individual performance basta inisip ko lang na makapag-contribute, offense and defense.”

SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 86 volleyball first round

With the 20-year-old rookie out of UST High School leading the way with 22.2 points in their first five games, UST leads the league with a 5-0 record—the school’s best start since its 6-0 record in the 2010-11 season.

For Poyos there’s no secret to her impressive rookie year so far and UST’s sizzling start as the Tigresses are just enjoying every game and fighting to win.

“Siguro wala namang secret, ine-enjoy lang namin every game, every point, and yun nga, sinasabi nila coach one game at a time, one point at a time, yun talaga yung nasa mindset namin every game,” she said.

Angge Poyos.–UAAP PHOTO

READ: UST Tigresses channel ‘Mamba Mentality’ in latest win

UST coach KungFu Reyes believes the best is yet to come for the 5-foot-8 spiker, knowing that his player still hasn’t unlocked her full potential.

Tigresses assistant coach Lerma Giron was hardly surprised with Poyos’ stellar showing in UST’s first season without star Eya Laure.

“Yan talaga yung gusto niya. So talagang finofollow lang niya yung heart niya. Binibigay niya yung todo effort niya,” said Giron. “Kung paano sila gumalaw sa game, ganyan kasi yung ginagawa nila sa training.”

READ: UST star rookie Poyos tempers expectations ahead of UAAP

With UST two wins away from sweeping the first round, Poyos and the Tigresses will have targets on their backs in their upcoming games. 

And the super rookie is up for the bigger challenge.

“Siguro [ang kailangan] is consistency, and yung focus and wag pakampante and wag magrelax kasi mataas pa, mahaba pa yung liga and alam kong mas marami pa kaming mapapakita,” said Poyos.

“Marami pa ko sigurong need iimprove lalo na sa pasa. Doon sa sinabi ni coach na ang pasa, need ko pang iimprove and sisimulan talaga yun sa training and with the help naman ng mga coaches, magagawa ko yun.”