PEPITO PREACHES PATIENCE AS TIGRESSES FALL TO BAD HABITS, SECOND STRAIGHT LOSS

MANILA, Philippines — UST Golden Tigresses team captain Detdet Pepito preaches patience as her team succumbed to bad habits and to their second straight loss after bowing to the FEU Lady Tamaraws, 22-25, 24-26, 25-17, 24-26, in the UAAP Season 87 women's volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.

The way she sees it, Pepito said that the Tigresses were quick to get frustrated when things don't go their way and this is something that they have to fix as they continue to their push for a Final Four spot and even a top two finish after the eliminations, which came with a twice-to-beat semifinal incentive.

UST is in third place as of posting time, carrying a 5-3 record as FEU but ahead with superior set ratio points.

"My patience is still there. One of the problems we talked about as a team is patience with each other. I try to remind everyone to have trust in themselves and in each other," said Pepito, the reigning two-time Best Libero.

"When someone makes a mistake, it feels like the world's ending. I can see it in their faces, the way they hold themselves, and I can tell they've given up. That's been a big challenge for me this season because we really lack patience, especially among us players. I hope we can work on that more and keep talking about it since we're all open to it."

Floor defense wise, Pepito said that the Tigresses are making progress as a team, a good sign for her since opposing teams try to avoid her defense on their attacks and services.

"You can clearly see it. I don't know, it's just that sometimes the ball just doesn't come my way in passing," said Pepito, who logged 12-of-24 in digs and 7-of-13 in receptions.

As a team, UST went 74-of-160 in digs and 35-of-84 in receptions.

"But I can also see the improvement in our training. It shows in the game that our passing has improved a bit. So, we're going to put in extra work and really push ourselves this time."

2025-03-24T02:37:10Z