MANILA, Philippines – Are they back on track? 

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses finally put a halt to their 5-game skid, which brought them to the bottom of the standings with a 2-7 record prior to their match on Saturday, March 17 against the University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons. 

The Lady Maroons entered the match with the advantage, having won two of their last 3 games. UP had a strong start to the game and easily took the first set at UST’s expense. 

However, everything changed during the last stretch of the second set as both teams thrilled the crowd by extending the set point. Sisi Rondina and Milena Alessandrini combined to give UST their second match point at 29-28, and an Isa Molde error evened the match at one set apiece. 

Since then, the Golden Tigresses never looked back as they defeated the Lady Maroons in 4 sets. 

“Ang importante dito is ‘yung paano kami makabalik. Kasi nga ang 5-game losing streak very uncharacteristic para sa amin,” said UST head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes Jr.

“Ito na ‘yung malaking bagay kasi nagising na kami doon sa masamang bangungot na nangyari sa amin.”

(The important thing here is how we came back. Because the 5-game losing streak is very uncharacteristic of us. This is a big thing because we already woke up from the nightmare that happened to us.)

The Tigresses looked different donning UST’s colors this time, as they wanted to veer away from being called the “Sisi Rondina team”. The instance first came when Adamson head coach Air Padda praised Rondina over her other teammates during the post-game press interview last February 16. 

“Before the game (vs UP), kinausap ko talaga ang teammates ko, ako talaga ang nag-utos na tawagin sila. Sabi ko na ‘wag niyo akong pasikatin, ‘wag niyong pasikatin ‘yung Sisi lang, gusto ko ‘yung pangalan naman ng school natin (ang sumikat),” said Rondina. 

(Before the game vs UP, I spoke to my teammates, I was the one who asked to call them. I said ‘Don’t make me famous, don’t make Sisi famous, I want the name of our school to be famed.’) 

In their win against the Lady Maroons, Alessandrini aided Rondina by chipping in 20 points behind Rondina’s 25.

This is the Fil-Italian’s 3rd game with the Tigresses since her return from a shoulder injury, In the second round opener against the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, Alessandrini played as libero before transitioning back to an outside hitter. 

“Malaking bagay pero wala na eh, wala na talaga kaming magagawa doon sa mga nakalipas (Alessandrini’s shoulder injury) na pero ang importante ngayon is nakabalik siya. At least nasa 80% or 75% okay na ‘yung shoulder niya pero alalay pa rin,” answered Reyes when asked about Alessandrini.

(She was a big factor but we cannot do anything about what happened in the past (Alessandrini’s shoulder injury) but the important thing is that she’s able to come back. At least her shoulder is okay at 75% to 80%, but we’re still being careful with it.) 

Reyes was also proud of backup outside hitter Mia Dizon, who came off the bench to score her 5 crucial points and help with the intangibles especially in aiding her teammates in defense. 

“Hindi niyo napapansin, ‘yung isang player ko na off the bench si Mia Dizon, nagbibigay ng additional reinforcement sa amin. Hindi man umaatake ng ganoong kalakas, hindi naman siya nagtatapon. Ang laking tulong niya sa likod,” said Reyes. 

(You don’t notice it, one of my players that came off the bench is Mia Dizon, who gave additional reinforcement to us. She didn’t attack that strong, but she didn’t waste her chances. She was a big help at the back.)

Is this really a wakeup call for the Golden Tigresses? Things won’t get easier for UST as they will be facing the top teams of the league – National University (NU), Ateneo, and De La Salle University – in their following matches. 

UST will have a week’s rest before they face the top first round team NU, who are looking to snap their two-game losing streak on Sunday, March 25 at the Filoil Flying V Centre. – Rappler.com