While it's been mostly Casiey Dongallo running the show for the UE Lady Warriors, sophomore ace Khy Cepada finally found her footing during their match against the DLSU Lady Spikers.
It hasn’t been the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament that many expected from Khy Cepada.
After an impressive rookie season for the University of the East, Cepada struggled to find her footing in the new-look Lady Warriors this season.
But that all changed during UE’s match against De La Salle University as Cepada dropped 23 big points, pushing the Lady Spikers to their limits in five sets.
“Kaya ko naman palang sumabay sa mga teammates ko. Actually, kaya ko naman maging ahead din sa kanila,” Cepada said during the post-game press conference.
“These past few games, parang sinasabi ko sa sarili ko na 'bakit hirap na hirap ka na pumuntos, hirap na hirap kang ilabas kung ano ang meron sa 'yo?' I can do more pa,” she added.
But while the sophomore ace may have doubted herself in the season, interim coach Obet Vital knows what she is capable of doing for the team.
“I've been watching Khy's film in the past like last year, so she did a wonderful job last year leading the team [in] scoring, being enthusiastic, and being aggressive, so I'm looking for that,” said Vital.
“I never gave up on her. She and I talked about this. I continuously put her on the court because alam ko anong kaya niya and today she showed it,” he added.
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Following her stellar performance against the Lady Spikers, Vital is hoping that Cepada and the rest of the Lady Warriors can continue their solid outings in their remaining games.
This, of course, is something that Cepada also hopes to achieve to close out Season 86 on a positive note.
“That's the good news, Khy did well, the bad news is that's the standard that I have for her, so I expect her and the rest of the team to just make this the baseline and then more pa. I'm not gonna push them or I'm not gonna be unrealistic. Alam ko kaya nila eh,” Vital emphasized.
“It will serve as inspiration tapos parang sasabihin ko sarili ko na dapat lamangan ko pa 'yung 23 points na ito. Kung kaya pa from 25 to 30 [points] ganun kung kaya, kakayanin kasi sayang 'yung pinaghihirapan sa training eh,” Cepada added.
UE will look to carry this momentum as they face Ateneo de Manila University on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena at 2:00 p.m.