EVEN with a 5-3 record in UAAP Season 87, University of Santo Tomas captain Detdet Pepito’s patience is slowly wearing thin.
The Golden Tigresses fell prey to rival Far Eastern University for the second time this year and in quite similar fashion to their Round 1 encounter — a four-set loss.
READ: Lady Tams put on encore win vs Golden Tigresses for joint third
For Pepito, seeing her young teammates crucify themselves even during minor mishaps and inconveniences on the taraflex hasn’t been the most encouraging sight as of late.
Such understandable yet concerning lack of maturity, if not addressed in the homestretch, might just be what costs the black-and-gold its title dream this tournament.
“Napag-usapan namin yung isa sa mga problems sa team namin is yung pasensya nga sa isa't-isa. Tina-try ko pa rin na i-remind palagi sila na magkaroon ng tiwala sa sarili, magkaroon ng tiwala sa isa't-isa kasi du’n talaga kami nagkukulang,” Pepito said.
“Yung iba, kapag nag-error, parang katapusan na ng mundo. Ganun yung nakikita ko. Kinakausap ko sila, pero yung mata nila, yung posture ng katawan nila, alam kong wala na. Yun yung pinaka-challenge talaga sa akin lalo ngayong season kasi talagang kulang kami sa pasensya.”
It ain't over 'til it's over for UST
It isn’t the end of the world just yet for last season’s silver medalists, however.
UST is well within the top four berth just as the elimination round crossed the halfway mark.
But as the seventh-ranked receiving team out of eight, Pepito, being a libero, stresses the need to clean up the Golden Tigresses’ act on defense which has been their Achilles’ heel in the opening round.
“Lalo ngayon, kitang-kita naman, ewan ko ba, konting bola lang talaga yung napunta sa akin sa passing,” the captain said.
“Nakita naman sa game na kahit papano, medyo nag-improve po yung passing namin. Mage-extra pa talaga dapat kami at i-submit talaga namin sarili namin nang malala sa next games.”
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