UAAPS77 Women's Semis: What La Salle Needs To Stay Alive

The twice-to-beat advantage of De La Salle University was nullified last Wednesday when NU beat them in straight sets to force a do-or-die match today. Stats for the previous match below:

It's clear from the numbers above what made the difference - NU's dominance in all offensive stops (including kill blocks) overwhelmed La Salle's defense. La Salle's digging is their main pitfall - although they have out-dug the Lady Bulldogs in excellent digs per set and dig conversion (these two metrics mainly measure how many of their successful attacks came from successful digs), their dig rate% is at a dismal 63%, far from their season average of 76.8%. This means that they were able to dig NU's attacks only 63% of the time - their digs and dives are not enough to keep the ball alive during rallies, which bumps up NU's attacking %. Furthermore, La Salle's offense mainly comes from in-system plays (exc sets 9.33 vs NU's 6.67, first ball offense% 28% vs NU's 21%), but they are unable to capitalize on this because NU gets points even from non-excellent plays - a testament to their attacking prowess. Remember that volleyball uses a rally point system - any point is gold, whether it be coming from in-system plays or not. What La Salle needs to do this afternoon is to hustle - they need to produce points from all corners, and keep in mind that mid-game adjustments to an offensive system is needed, especially facing NU's rejuvenated team (with momentum on their side as well).

Keys to the Match - De La Salle University

• Offense should have more power so as to startle the opponent and force them to commit errors. In their previous matches, La Salle was able to win because they force their opponents to commit more errors than them.
• However, they shouldn't just be dependent upon NU's errors for their points. More importantly, they should be efficient in attacking as much as possible. In the previous game, La Salle was down to an attack efficiency of only 13%, very far from their season average of 22.1% - they can't depend solely on excellent sets, they need to get points from any opportunity possible.

Keys to the Match - National University

• Continue receiving opponent's serve well so as to set up attacks without distractions
• NU's biggest improvement in the semis is their ability to efficiently play the ball by not committing errors. In the previous game, their error weight (error to point contribution) is down to just 25%, while their season average was at 46.0% . This is crucial especially when trying to side-out on tied scores.

Prediction: NU with momentum on their side, if they get more point contributions from attacks than La Salle. However, knowing La Salle's recovery, NU's momentum can be a non-factor.