UAAP women's volleyball: UST picks up its biggest Season 81 win

MANILA, Philippines — The return to prominence for the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses continues with a four-set win over defending champion La Salle (25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19) to take the twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four of the 81st UAAP women's volleyball competition.

I don’t recall — at least not in the last 12 years, maybe even longer — La Salle needing to win twice to get to the finals. So this is massive.

It proves that the first round win over DLSU is no fluke and that this team is a sleeping giant. Cherry Rondina is playing the best volleyball of her career. She has always tried to play a well-rounded game and she can make a case as being good on both ends of the floor. She has never been really a target because of her low center of gravity and ability to get those digs. Plus, she has become better at blocking.

There was a time when Rondina would jump try to jump out of the gym and spike that ball with God-knows-how-power-she-packs-in-that-frame-of-hers. She still does, but placement has become really key for her. How hungry is this lass for a title? You bet she is super hungry.

I thought that UST gave DLSU a taste of what it did against Ateneo in the second round as they tried to evade the blockers and dump that ball in the backline. 

One thing when trying to battle La Salle is to rattle their cage and UST gave as good as what they received. They hit a bit more aces, weren’t too far behind in block points, and kept the errors — especially late in the game, to a minimum. 

One might ask: is La Salle that shaky? Not really, UST just got a lot better.

They have the perfect excuse to fold with the pre-season loss of Tin Francisco and the early season injury to Minela Alessandrini, but they kept their heads up and played better. You can see the coaching is more relaxed as are the girls.

And what a devastating one-two spike force coach Kung-Fu Reyes has in Rondina (in her final season) along with Eya Laure. 

But they did well because of the recent form of veteran setter Alina Bicar, who returned to the starting lineup in place of rookie Mafe Galanza. UST has always had the weapons in the wings, but the playmaking has been spotty at best. 

Galanza’s addition and sterling play for a rookie has lit a fire under Bicar. She should really play better because she is a veteran with a lot of experience. Time was she was ready to snatch that starting role from former starting setter Alex Cabanos. Bicar shined but became inconsistent. The jury is still out if she has finally got what it takes to be a premier setter. For now, she has battled DLSU’s wizard in Michelle Cobb matching her in almost every department. 

UST got a lot of contributions from almost everyone and that too was something they matched up well with La Salle. It helps when you have a lot of players contributing because that means the opposing defense cannot just key on to one player.

Can La Salle bounce back?

This is the second time this season that the Lady Spikers they lost two in a row. Earlier in the first round, they suffered their first defeat at the hands of UP in five sets. Then they lost to UST in three.

Tis late second round, they lost to FEU in five and now to UST once more in four.

Unlike in the first round, they had a lower tier team like UE to find their groove again, which they did with a three-set win.

No such luck this time around as they embroiled with a hungry Tiger… er, hungry Tigresses. 

As always with DLSU, it starts with their serve. That serve will depend on how the opposing team scrambles to get their offense going. First ball problems? Spotty offense. Then they can go on the defense at the net and on the floor. 

Look for them to work on that.

The first set of the next match is going to be massive.