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.

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UAAPS77 Men's Finals: Ateneo vs NU

The first match of the finals series was a doozy for Ateneo de Manila fans as they were able to win it in 4 sets versus the defending champions National University. Stats summary for the first match below:

As you can see above, Ateneo has dominated the game in almost all skills. Biggest advantages for Ateneo are their attacks and passes: AttackEff% for Ateneo at 29%, even higher than their eliminations average of 27%, and their passing% at 89%. Although Ateneo commits more service errors per set (4.25 vs 2.00), their seemingly inconsistent (i.e. error prone) service shouldn't be taken lightly: the fact that they have more aces per set means that they are being aggressive on the serve - Ateneo's main strategy is to take control of the rally via strong serves so that the opponent cannot set up good plays for their attackers, which is why NU's passing% is only at 77%, and can also explain why they have fewer excellent sets (12.75 vs Ateneo's 14.25) and therefore attacks (49 atks vs Ateneo's 64). NU's offense suffered because their floor defense cannot hold, and they should address it this game. For Ateneo, they just need to keep doing what they've been doing in the first game, but be wary of relaxing as they will be facing of a more compelled NU team.

Keys to the Match - National University

• Passing efficiency shouldn't be below 30% - it is imperative that they must receive the ball better, not just to avoid giving opponent service aces, but for their own benefit as well to gain back momentum as well as better chances of getting a side out. In the elimination rounds, their average passeff% for won games was 30.2%, and 25.3% for lost games.
• Point contribution of the team from atks, blks and aces should be at least 70% of total points won - in other words, they need to be able to take control of the game. In the game 1 of the finals, their point contribution was only at 62.8%, which means 37.2% of their won points came from opponent errors, which is a fatal mistake to make in volleyball - you cannot just rely on opponent errors to win a game.

Keys to the Match - Ateneo de Manila University

• 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.
• Floor defense should persist throughout the match, so that they could set up their attacks well.

Prediction: Ateneo, if NU cannot make the necessary adjustments in their floor defense.

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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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