University of Santo Tomas gearing up for the UAAP finals
The University of Santo Tomas has already secured itself a place in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines women’s volleyball finals by defeating the Adamsons in the 4-1 match on Wednesday. It is now in wait for the opponent that UST would have to face in the UAAP championship match, whose date depends on the victor of the second semi-final.
The semi-final is scheduled to take place today between La Salle and the Ateneo. The venue for the much awaited contest is The Arena in San Juan. UST is betting more on the top ranked La Salle team to be their rival in the deciding match rather than the fourth seed Ateneo.
"We are looking at La Salle but it will all depend on how they play. We’re not discounting Ateneo," said UST coach Cesael “Shaq" Delos Santos.
The last match that the Tigresses played saw them slack a bit as they let Adamson take the third set of the game by a considerable margin of 25-17. Despite the fact that they did not let the loss affects their spirits adversely and won the next set by 25-21, UST cannot afford to show such inconsistency in the final match, no matter who their rival is as both La Salle and Ateneo come with commendable records to their credit.
In case La Salle is able to secure today’s semi-final for themselves, the first match of the championship series will take place on the 23rd February, making it a Wednesday. If things do not turn out in favour of La Salle, then the Game one of the championship series will be pushed ahead to a Saturday, the 26 February, in which Ateneo will be competing against UST.
The Tigress coach has no problems with either of the scenarios.
"We can prepare longer since we also need to fine-tune our game for the finals," said Delos Santos.
Even though pleased with his team’s performance in the semi’s, the UST coach still sees room for improvement and need for practice. As the Tigresses did not stick to the game plan by relaxing in the third set of the semis, Delos Santos feels that UST needs to develop consistency in their play. Other than that, the time between the best of three final showdown matches will be utilized to further hone the attacking skills of the Tigresses. Another aspect that Delos Santos wants UST to work on is communication on the court. The coach feels that a well coordinated team effort will play a key role in pushing the Tigresses forwards to victory.
Referring to the semis, Delos Santos made the following comments about the upcoming finals: “We just ran out of steam in the fifth set. We need to raise our level of intensity if we will play against La Salle in the finals.”
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