UAAP women's volleyball: Adamson & NU's woes; DLSU finds second wind

MANILA, Philippines – The contenders are jostling for a playoff position while the lower tier squads have fallen by the wayside in the 81st UAAP women’s volleyball tournament. 

This is a game of a team going somewhere and a team in search of answers (yet also face more questions)

A three-set sweep by the UST Golden Tigresses over the Adamson Lady Falcons (25-15, 25-12, 25-16) to go to 6-3 — good for third — while the latter fell to 1-8; worst in the league. The rookie-laden NU team has one more win than them at 2-7.

We’ve said our praise for UST and while we don’t really want to keep harping about the woes of Adamson, I cannot help but wonder — so much promise, yet so little to show for it. It is not like they do not have the talent. They do. The malaise is due to years of poor finishes. 

Prior to the surge of volleyball in terms of popularity in 2008, Adamson was one of the toughest teams to beat. They might have not won a title around that triumvirate of La Salle, FEU and UST, but they were there.

You have to feel for these girls and of course, their coaches.

At this point, it is all about finishing strong and building for the future. I hope they do not just look into the individual skill set of this team, but also their mental strength. Why wait for them to hit their senior year to get better?

As British playwright Tom Stoppard once quipped, “Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.”

NU is buckling but there is promise

The National University Lady Bulldogs followed suit. They played a good set against La Salle, but fell, 25-20, then their focus and game dipped 25-18 and 25-10. That is a team that is also taking bad shots to their psyche. Luckily for them, they know that help is coming from the horizon. But how long until they find their form because the college game is so much different than high school?

Joni Chavez did what she could and performed admirably in spite of the struggles of her team. So did libero Jennifer Nierva. The blocking just wasn’t there for the Lady Bulldogs as La Salle seemed to have found their second wind in this season.

But so much promise for this NU team. We said that even when their great players from high school move up next season, they will still struggle because they will lose two more players to graduation. They will need to soak in a lot of experience before they can find their bite. But it is there, mind you.

Right now, it is about finishing strong.

What defense by La Salle on NU’s three threats

Ivy Lacsina, Princess Robles and Audrey Paran combined for a woeful 21 points. It was only Rose Doria who scored in double figures with 11. La Salle’s Des Cheng found her form again as did Tin Tiamzon (17 and 11 points, respectively).

Nine block points by La Salle while NU mustered only one. 

I am sure that DLSU head coach Ramil Cruz knows that his team needs to work on a few more things, but the important thing for the defending champions is they are back on track.