POST-GAME ANALYSIS Game 1: DLSU Lady Spikers vs UST Tigresses La Salle convincingly won the match in three sets, the first two of which showcased an intense fight between the two teams. Come third set and UST seemed to have lost its gears and allowed DLSU to flawlessly finish the match. However, everything is not as sweet as it seems. Here is my breakdown of what happened: For DLSU, the entire game was an ARA GALANG SHOW. Exercising her right as the team captain, Galang led the team in attacks and pitched in a couple of service aces and blocks to finish strongly with 21 points. Cyd Demecillo was the next best scorer with 15 points, 14 of which are attacks. The rest of the squad in the scoring department tallied single digit points. Evidently, DLSU relied on the prowess of its two outside hitters. Probably you observed this but the team hasnt fully utilized its middle attacks for the past three games. Most of Kim Fajardos sets are directed towards Galang and Demecillo. UST recognized this pattern so they managed to repel some of DLSUs attacks. I dont know if it is Coach Ramils strategy to not use the middle so much. Maybe he has a surprise in store for the fans, or maybe it is simply just the game plan: to give the ball to Cyd and Ara for a higher possibility of scoring. Also, La Salle committed a lot of errors in this game, even more than UST. Most of the errors came from Des Cheng and Kim Fajardo. However, I noticed that Cheng is improving in the digging and setting department way back from the UniGames. The Lady Spikers we are seeing this season is totally different from the ones we saw in the past seasons. The core of their offense has now shifted to the outside spikers unlike in Abis era. Their blocking is still consistent as always but I am bothered by the patterns in their attack. Its like Ara Galang is becoming The Alyssa Valdez of Season 77. I do hope that she gets more reinforcements from her teammates especially Mika Reyes, Camille Cruz, and Kim Dy. DLSUs performance for today deserves a 3 out of 5 stars. :) For UST, I expected a lot more from this team. The addition of EJ Laure to this team produced an immense impact especially with her being the Best Scorer for UST in the 1st Conference of this years Shakeys V-League. However, DLSU managed to regulate her scoring abilities by anticipating and blocking her attacks. Still she is a super rookie though and I see a lot of potential in this young superstar considering it is just her first year in the league. Regarding the play of the entire team, it was actually impressive. Just not enough to beat the powerhouse DLSU team. Improvements must be made to the setting department because the plays of Cabanos lack variety and therefore becomes predictable. They really had a good shot for this days game. UST just tends to relax a bit when they gain the lead as we saw on Set No. 2. Consistency and better plays are the key if they want to bounce back from this loss. Their performance deserves a 3 out of 5 stars. :) Admin K
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 11:14:40 +0000