UAAPS77 Women’s Stepladder: UST vs FEU Playoff

Another season, another stepladder series in the Women's Division. This year, however, the 4th spot is tied between 2 teams, and so a playoff is needed before a knockout match vs NU will be completed. Then the winner will be facing twice-to-beat La Salle, then the defending champions Ateneo who is thrice-to beat. First off, let's check out how the UST-FEU playoff match will take place.

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Offense

Offense	UST	FEU
Spike	5	4	FEU
Atk Eff%	15%	16%
1stBall Off%	13%	11%
Serve	5	3	FEU
Ace per set	1.28	1.57
Fault/set	2.12	1.64
% Good Srv	90%	93%
Srv Eff %	-4%	0%
Set	3	6	UST
Exc Set /set	7.80	6.02
Off Eff %	72%	54%

FEU is currently in the the top 4 of both ranks in attacking and serving, registering an attack efficiency of 16% as well as a high good serve % of 93% (they commit service errors only 7% of the time). UST however has better setting, being the third best in the league, with 72% of their successful attacks coming off excellent plays from Alex Cabanos. Note that excellent plays are only good if the team is able to convert them, therefore UST's offense should not just be based attacks from plays but on all other possible avenues as well, such as service aces, which FEU is currently third best in the league. If FEU can keep up their attacking % as well as be aggressive on the serve, this will be for their benefit.

Defense

Defense	UST	FEU
Block	2	5	UST
Rebound %	33%	31%
Dig	3	5	UST
Digs per set	8.60	8.26
Dig Conv	23%	22%
Dig Rate %	83%	83%
Pass	5	6	UST
Pass Eff%	16%	13%
Adj Pass Eff%	84%	86%
Passing %	84%	85%

UST's main gun other than their playmaking will be their defense. On all defensive skills, they are on top of FEU, especially in blocking, where they are currently 2nd best in the league (behind La Salle). If they can improve on their passing skills this game (passing% very close to FEU), UST can handle FEU's serves, which will also let them set-up better plays for their attackers. FEU's very dismal defense is due to it mainly being handled by one person, star libero Tin Agno - FEU's other backrow players need to help and dig/receive the ball well enough for them to keep the play alive.

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Keys to the match:

UST

• Take advantage of their biggest edge over FEU which is blocking.
• Hustle on attacks and try to score the same amount as the opponent if not more. They need to be able to get points not just from blocks but on attacks as well.

UST	WON	LOST	AVE
PT DIFF/SET	4.08	-2.40	2.21
FROM OWN EFFORTS	4.57	-1.93	2.69
FROM ERRS	-0.49	-0.47	-0.48

FEU

• Service game should start strong, so that the opponent will have a harder time setting up better plays for their attackers.
• Be aggressive on all skills. FEU lost games in the eliminations due to their opponents' efforts in atks, blks and aces overwhelming FEU's own contributions. They should be able to score more on all offensive options as much as possible.

FEU	WON	LOST	AVE
PT DIFF/SET	0.88	-3.32	-1.89
FROM OWN EFFORTS	1.63	-4.16	-2.19
FROM ERRS	-0.75	0.84	0.30

Prediction: UST if they can overcome FEU's attacks with their own and be steady in their defense, both floor and net. Momentum is on the side of FEU however.

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UAAPS77 Men’s Final4 Preview: Aggression Is Key

also seen in TieBreaker Times

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We now have arrived in the Final Four. The men’s semi-final matches will be interesting to watch as both match-ups offset each other in terms of individual skills. Both UST-NU and Ateneo-Adamson are tied head-to-head in the eliminations, and these 4 teams will duke it out in tomorrow’s showdowns. Ateneo and UST both have the twice-to-beat advantage coming into the semis – can NU and Adamson overcome this? Check out our takes on both matches below.

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UST Growling Tigers vs NU Bulldogs

Rank	UST	NU
Spike	3	1
Atk Eff%	25%	27%
Block	5	1
Rebound %	33%	32%
Serve	2	3
Ace per set	1.19	1.02
Dig	2	8
Digs per set	5.38	4.57
Set	1	4
Exc Set per set	8.56	7.98
Pass	4	3
Pass Eff%	27%	29%

Head-to-head, UST and NU are tied in the elimination rounds – NU winning the first round in 5 sets, while UST able to get their revenge in the second round by winning in 3 sets. In their latest duel, despite NU being number one in attacks in the league, UST was able to mount more in that particular game (46 vs 36) - this was due to the excellent playmaking led by Paul Castillo and Timothy Tajanlangit.

For tomorrow’s game, NU being the last in the ranks in terms of digging, must try to be able to catch opponent attacks, especially from UST’s main scorer, Mark Alfafara. Despite NU’s lackluster floor defense, they make up for it in offense with an attack efficiency of 27%. UST has better serving, with more aces per set than NU, but they need to pick up their offense in other areas – service aces won’t take you places if the opponent is receiving the ball better (NU passing efficiency 29% vs 27% of UST). UST also has better setting and playmaking, but attack conversion is more important in winning the game.

Keys to the match:

UST

Given NU is # 1 in attacking, blocking must be imperative for UST. Based on their elimination games, they won the game if they elevate their blocking significantly.

    NU out blocked UST (12 vs 10)

UST	WON	LOST	AVE
BLK/SET	2.51	1.67	2.27
REBOUND%	33.44%	30.42%	32.69%

Limit errors in all aspects. If they do commit errors, they must be able to overcome this with consistent attacking.

Despite UST having more atks (62 vs 59), they also committed more errors (26 vs 19). Atk-to-error ratio is higher for NU (3.10 vs 2.38), meaning UST’s atks are not enough to compensate for errors committed.

NU

Continue aggression on attacks, but they should be wary of attack errors.

NU’s success% on attacks higher by a margin (40.41% vs UST’s 40.00%).

NU	WON	LOST	AVE
ATK/SET	14.30	8.61	12.29
HITTING IPE%	83.9%	78.1%	82.2%

Errors must be less than 60% of points contributed by the team (atks, blks, aces).

NU’s error weight (errors vs points contributed) is at 25.00% (vs UST’s 33.77%).

Prediction: NU can extend this to a second game if they keep up their attacks and if UST cannot control their own errors (for the season, UST is net negative on errors on their won points while NU is positive).

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 Ateneo Blue Eagles vs Adamson Soaring Falcons

Rank	Ateneo	AdU
Spike	2	4
Atk Eff%	25%	18%
Block	3	2
Rebound %	33%	33%
Serve	1	4
Ace per set	1.37	1.00
Dig	5	1
Digs per set	5.25	6.35
Set	2	3
Exc Set per set	8.42	8.33
Pass	2	1
Pass Eff%	32%	33%

Adamson and Ateneo are also tied in the elimination rounds – Adamson winning the first clash with a four set win while Ateneo won the next one in straight sets. Ateneo was able to produce more attack points (40 vs 22) in their second round match, backed by defense on digs (16 vs 9) and passing (27 vs 17), overcoming Adamson, the team known to be the best defensive team in the league.

This match up will be all about offense vs defense – Ateneo outranks Adamson in terms of attacks, serves, and sets/playmaking, while Adamson is the league’s king in defense, being #1 in digging and passing, and #2 in blocking. For tomorrow’s match, Adamson should bank on their steady defense to be able to win the game (both floor and net). Ateneo has to find the seams of the blocks, or use the block whenever spiking, and avoid Rence Melgar as much as possible who is the #1 libero in the league.

Keys to the match:

Ateneo

• Continue to be aggressive on the serve. Despite committing more errors, they won the games where the team took more risk on the service line.

ATENEO	WON	LOST	AVE
ACES/SET	1.74	0.36	1.37
FAULTS/SET	4.08	2.71	3.71

• Errors should not be more than 50% of the point contribution of the team.

Adamson

• Be able to successfully convert more points from attacks. Their contribution from attacks are significantly lower when they lose a game (by more than half compared to games won)

ADAMSON		WON	LOST	AVE
ATK/SET		13.94	7.68	11.61

• Continue aggression on the block by getting at least 3 blocks per set.

Prediction: Ateneo, if they continue to dominate on all offensive skills (on the average, Ateneo has more effort on point contribution than Adamson, i.e. Ateneo gets points from their own atks, blks and aces while Adamson’s differential in winning relies more on opponent errors than their own efforts)

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Who will win? For men’s games, the more aggressive teams usually win the game – attacks usually carry the team to the top. However, it’s all about balance in crucial matches like these – aggression must be controlled with poise and focus. Breaks of the game are defined not by who is luckier but who is in control.

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