DLSU Lady Spiker Mika Reyes says First Set blowout against UST was unexpected

Mika Reyes and the DLSU Lady Spikers are currently 2-0 in season 76 of  UAAP Volleyball.
(Photo by Roy Afable)

The DLSU Lady Spikers were off to a good start with a 2-0 record in UAAP 76. In the season opener of the Volleyball games last December 1, they chalked up their first win over host school Adamson University.

That easy win a couple of weeks ago seemed like it was just another day in the office for Lady Spikers. But some think the defending champs played somewhat loosely at the time. For La Salle's star player Mika Reyes though, they were simply trying to shake off the cobwebs in their game against Adamson that day.

"I think first game jitters. Kasi first game – medyo nangangapa pa tapos may mga rookies. And kahit na seniors kami di mawawala yung may kakabahan." Reyes explained.

Preparing Ahead of Time

La Salle's road to their title defense is already in full effect. Two games already in the books and clearly it's still a long season. Competition will get even higher each game and preparing ahead of time has always been the reigning UAAP Volleyball champs' mindset and their key to success.

"Mindset ng team is to prepare talaga ahead of time," said the Third year Spiker.

"Syempre hindi lang the night before the game or sa mismong game na. Syempre the whole week or days before talaga para makabisado namin yung bawat galaw ng players at yung babantayan namin," Mika added.

Going up against National University's Twin Towers

A lot are expecting that the National University Lady Bulldogs are gonna be title contenders in the 76th season of the UAAP. With the towering rookie Jaja Santiago playing alongside her sister Dindin, NU are bound to give La Salle's frontline especially for Reyes. She knows her match-up with the Santiago sisters on Wednesday is gonna be a tough one.

"We’re gonna prepare again kasi isa sila sa mga teams with tall people," Reyes said.

"Syempre, maraming nakakaalam sa Santiago sisters -- ka position ko pa and katapat ko pa. So hindi ito biro at dapat paghandaan ko talaga yun."

The "Never Say Die" Tigresses

The Lady Spikers made easy work on the UST Tigresses last Sunday -- or so they thought. Although they did finish the first set strong but knowing UST, they still expected that game to be rather competitive. In the second set, the Tigresses suddenly woke up from their slumber and decided to channel their "never say die" attitude.

They surprised DLSU with a massive comeback even tying the game up at 24. UST's run came to a halt after a couple of errors -- one of them off a serve. The Lady Spikers took advantage and finished set number 2. The third set's result was similar to that of the first set.

For Mika though, the UST comeback was already expected. They made some adjustments in the third set to prevent any comebacks from the Tigresses for good measure.

"Of course. Halata naman sa second set. Kasi humabol sila," Mika co-signed.

"Kaya nung 3rd sobrang na-alarm kami. Hindi dapat papatay* yung kalaban. Kailangan palagi talaga sila labanan."

*Note: It's a layman's Filipino volleyball term for a spiker's attack. Just to be clear.*

Archers' first set fury

UST fans were indeed shocked to see the Tigresses' woeful performance in the first set against the Lady Spikers. The scoreboard read "25-8". Clearly, not the numbers UST coach Odjie Mamon would like to see in the stat sheet. Though, La Salle was bound to get a good first set finish in a game against UST but the 25-8 beatdown came as a surprise for one Mika Reyes.

However, she knows a team like the UST Tigresses are still not to be underestimated.

"I’m not really expecting that but we worked on that eh. Kasi di naman namin sinasabi na kailangan tambakan talaga namin," stressed Reyes.

"Pero during that game, kailangan one stop agad. Kapag naka-patay sila balik ulit kami. Hindi pwede yung makalayo sila tapos tsaka naming sila hahabulin," the statuesque Lady Spiker explained.