MANILA, Philippines — Ranged against a dangerous challenger in its three-peat drive in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tourney, La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus stressed the Lady Spikers should complete the mop-up job now against Far Eastern or risk giving the feisty Lady Tams confidence to strike back and get in good position for an ambush.
“We’ll give it our all to clinch it in Game Two for things might get harder if the series reaches a deciding Game Three,” said De Jesus in Filipino ahead of today’s Game Two at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Lady Spikers moved to the threshold of yet another treble in the league – their third – by taking the opener in three tightly-fought sets, 29-27, 25-21, 25-22, last Saturday.
But the Lady Tams, on the hunt for a first diadem in a decade, remain defiant.
“Nothing is impossible; we’ll keep on fighting until the very end,” said FEU mentor George Pascua.
The Lady Tams fought furiously but were undone by their erratic ways in the series opener, their 34 errors apparently an offshoot of their inexperience in the Last Dance in contrast to the seasoned Lady Spikers, some of whom are already on their fifth consecutive finals stint.
“Even La Salle, they can’t celebrate yet. What we must do is charge this to experience, take it as positive moving forward,” said Pascua.
De Jesus, a one-time teammate of Pascua, admitted that FEU, even back in the elims where they played two five-setters, always gives the Lady Spikers a tough time.
“FEU is a team with a deep bench, they hardly have a weak point in their rotation, almost everyone’s capable of blocking and their setter is also efficient,” said the multi-titled coach.
La Salle’s veterans are determined to help De Jesus on his chase for history for the team. He previously steered DLSU to grandslams in Seasons 66-68 and 73-75.