FOR University of Santo Tomas women's volleyball team coach Kungfu Reyes, playing against his La Salle counterpart Ramil de Jesus is always a learning experience.
When they play again on Saturday (May 5, Mall of Asia Arena) in the semifinals of the UAAP women's volleyball championship, Reyes will look at it as a game where he can draw some more insight on what makes this illustrious coach tick.
“Uulit-ulitin ko lang na player pa lang ako, Coach Ramil na ‘yan. Wala naman kaming ibang nilo-look up kundi si Coach Ramil kasi ang ganda ng program nila,” Reyes said, citing La Salle’s string of volleyball success that he credits to de Jesus's coaching acumen.
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But while Reyes has total respect for all that de Jesus has accomplished, his overiding concern is still to beat his team. He has already done that in the final game of the eliminations a few days ago, a win that earned the Tigresses a twice-to-beat edge while putting La Salle's title aspirations on the brink.
Whether he can repeat in the semis remains to be seen as de Jesus will surely dig deep into his array of volleyball wizardry to keep La Salle's title-retentiopn bid alive.
This is fhe third meeting in the Final Four in four seasons for the two protagonists and surely, this is one of the most anticipated matches in the current season. Overall, de Jesus leads their head-to-head matches, 11-8.
But according to Reyes, win-loss records are not his concern, saying he prefers the delight of having to battle wits with de Jesus, under bright lights, in a jampacked venue, with survival at stake.
“Hindi ko naman binibilang kung ilang beses na naming tinalo sila (De Jesus at La Salle) kasi hindi naman ‘to paramihan ng ganito o ganyan. Ang (pinapa-halagahan) ko kasi, ‘yung moment na makaharap ko si Coach Ramil,” said Reyes, who calls de Jesus a volleyball "institution."
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Reyes' opinion of De Jesus is not a product of his imagination because in 28 years as La Salle coach, de Jesus has won 12 titles and placed second eight times, a UAAP record.
For this reason, there is no moment for complacency on the part of UST, Reyes said.
“Mahirap ipag-kibit-balikat na, ‘Oh, si La Salle (natalo natin sa elimination round).’ Mas motivated kami ‘pag mataas ‘yung standard nu’ng team, ‘yung level ng team way, way back pa hanggang sa ngayon. Malaking bagay sa’min na makaharap namin sila kasi ang dami naming natututunan sa kanila,” Reyes said.
Will history repeat itself for UST?
Beating La Salle, however, is nothing new to UST. In May 5, 2019, the two teams met in the semifinals and UST prevailed, earning the No. 2 seed and the twice-to-beat advantage. The Tigresses lost to Ateneo in the finals.
But last year, La Salle dealt UST a semifinal setback and won the title.
Reyes hopes to bury the ghost of last year's failure and said his team is ready to meet this year's challenge.
"One goal lang ang gusto namin so we are on the same page from top to bottom. With that, hindi na kami mahihirapan to maximize kung anong meron kami especially 'yung mga resources namin outside sa team at saka especially 'yung UST community, 'yun talaga 'yung backbone namin.
Reyes added: “As long as we are healthy, 100 percent mag-peperform at mag-peperform kami at any cost. 'Yun naman talaga ang pinag-tatrabahuhan namin. No expectations pero nandito na kami. Isasagad na namin kasi' yung big picture na 'yung tinitignan namin sa ngayon."
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