Angge Poyos and the UST Golden Tigresses in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament. –UAAP PHOTO
With the second-longest winning streak in Season 87 of the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament, a University of Santo Tomas side that seems to be doing everything right lately returns to the floor on Wednesday hoping to extend that run to four and stay firmly at No. 2 on the leaderboard.
And the Growling Tigresses are wary of who’s on the opposite side of the Mall of Asia floor at 4 p.m., with University of the Philippines coming out as a very improved team for the season while posing to be a tough puzzle to read.
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“The scouting of their players is really a guessing game (for us),” Santo Tomas assistant Yani Fernandez said in Filipino, referring to the UP squad that seems to have different weapons every game.
READ: UAAP: Starting season on a loss, Tigresses now on 3-win run
“We need to study their rotations each set because they have a different outside hitter and middle each time.
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“We (coaching staff) will have to be patient,” he added.
The Tigresses have won their last three games after starting out with a loss to Far Eastern, and included in that run were victories over La Salle and surprising Adamson.
And although they are the favorites against the Fighting Lady Maroons, whom they have a five-game winning streak against dating back to 2023, the Tigresses are aware of the improvements that UP has shown under coach Benson Bocboc.
UP is at 2-2 and will come into the contest the loser of its last two games.
Angge Poyos and Reg Jurado will continue to be Santo Tomas’ 1-2 punch with Cassie Carballo, the blue-chip setter, to again orchestrate the plays for last season’s runner-up behind National U.
Jonna Perdido and Xyza Gula have been ruled out for the rest of the year, and a mix of veterans and young talent needs to step up to give Poyos and Jurado help, foremost among them are Pia Abbu and Em Banagua.
Meanwhile, the Lady Tamaraws will be shooting for their first winning streak of the season when they battle winless University of the East in the 2 p.m. game, with coach Tina Salak not wanting her team to dwell on the roller-coaster ride they are having.
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“I also teach them to let go. But we also need to learn from our past mistakes, and we work on those mistakes in practice,” Salak in Filipino said as the Lady Tams shoot for a follow-up to a tight win over Ateneo. “That’s where we find solutions. That’s where we make adjustments—during practice. INQ
