The UST Golden Tigresses. UAAP Media

MANILA, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas women's volleyball head coach Kungfu Reyes hailed Wednesday the grit and determination of the Tigresses following their 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-8 escape of Adamson University in the UAAP Season 87 women's volleyball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

A point from the Lady Falcons could have clinched the match as Shaina Nitura pushed Adamson to match point, 25-24, in Set 4.

But Reg Jurado and the Tigresses outplayed their rivals -- the outside spiker made a personal 3-0 run as her teammates defended the floor well from Nitura to force a decider.

With the momentum shift in favor of the Tigresses, they started well in the fifth as they pulled away early to finally clip the wings of the Lady Falcons.

While they weren't able to silence Nitura, who exploded for 36 big points, they had answers in Jurado and Angge Poyos, who combined for 47 points.

For coach Kungfu Reyes, they took to heart the lessons they learned during their three-game skid.

READ: UAAP: UST weathers another Nitura scoring explosion, beats Adamson to snap skid

"Thankful kasi hindi naging apat na losing streak and [nandoon] 'yung grit ng mga bagets namin," said Reyes.

"'Yung highs and lows nung game kanina, especially 'yung mga rallies, hindi naman sila tumigil. Hangga’t sa makuha namin 'yung fourth set. That’s the time na sinabi nga namin sila na eto na 'yun. Wag na bitawan at kailangan nang ipanalo 'yung game and naovercome naman nila 'yung lahat ng kung ano mang negative vibes na nangyayari kanina," Reyes added.

READ: UAAP: La Salle outlasts UST in 5-set epic behind Canino, Laput’s heroics

The UST mentor said their maturity and good decision-making showed up this time around.

"Dito na lumalabas yung learning namin sa 3-game losing streak nga. So yung maturity, decision-making nila, kung we let go or we will fight. 'Yun 'yung mga takeaway namin," he said.

"Sa skills, tactically, fundamentals, andiyan na sa 'min e. So 'yung learning experience namin sa breaks of the game nung mga laro namin nung natalo nga kami, at least nagamit nila pagdating dito sa dulo."

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