University of Santo Tomas head coach Kungfu Reyes is urging more players to step up as top scorer Angge Poyos continues to regain strength after feeling under the weather the past week.

The Golden Tigresses have dropped two games in the second round after completing a rare sweep in the first part of the eliminations.

At 10-2 in the standings, though, UST was the first squad to clinch a spot back to the semifinal with Rookie of the Year-Most Valuable Player candidate Poyos leading the way since her UAAP debut.

However, Poyos had to sit out the España squad’s match against University of the Philippines due to dehydration that saw Jonna Perdido and Regina Jurado shoulder the responsibility with respective season best performances.

Though Poyos was back in time for UST’s collision against the peaking Far Eastern University side, the Golden Tigresses couldn’t hold off the Lady Tamaraws in their five-set affair.

“Medyo nagiging shaky na ‘yung galaw [ni Angge]. Hindi ko na tinatanong kung pagod siya, tinatanong ko kung nilalamig ba siya nung fourth set. Medyo nararamdaman niya pa rin ‘yung lamig. Sa scoring, talagang maaasahan mo. Pero ‘yung one hundred percent hindi pa kasi physically may nararamdaman pa siya,” said Reyes. “Very unfortunate lang kasi ‘yung mga nag perform form our last game, although the numbers are there, hindi gano’n kataas. ‘Yun ang missing eh.”

UST now share similar records with National University for the joint No. 1 seed in the standings as they both continue to be prime candidates for the twice-to-beat bonuses.

With their lapses magnifying themselves on the court, Reyes wants the loss to serve as a painful lesson for the Golden Tigresses if they ever want to make it out alive in the tough Final Four action. 

“‘Yun ang pinakamaganda we’re not really losing the game, we’re learning from it,” Reyes said.

“You just play the game kasi andoon na ‘yung pressure. ‘Yung takeaways naman ang dadalhin namin. Move forward, accept the loss. We need to push more. More experience for our young guns. This is still part of the process. From having no expectations, we’re here now,” he concluded.