Gritty UST halts Adamson win streak; Ateneo rises

MANILA, Philippines – UST snapped Adamson’s three-game winning streak in five sets, 12-25, 25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 15-9, to gain solo third in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament on Tuesday, May 17, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Ahead by a solitary point, the Golden Tigresses got a huge boost from the error-plagued Lady Falcons, who committed three errors in a 5-0 spurt that put UST at match point, 14-8, in the fifth set. Lucille Almonte kept Adamson alive with a hit but UST star Eya Laure made sure to seal the win with a kill.

“Kalimutan yung first four sets, erase na lahat,” said UST head coach Kungfu Reyes. “Ang pinakaimportante yung fifth set kasi gaya ng sinabi namin noon sa mga previous matches namin, sa five sets patatagan lang ng dibdib, palakasan ng isip so every point counts.”

(I told them to forget about the first four sets, erase everything. The most important thing is the fifth set, like what I told them before, it’s all about having a strong heart and mind, so every point counts.)

Laure dropped 23 points on 19 attacks and 4 blocks along with 8 excellent receptions to power the Golden Tigresses to a third-running 4-2 record.

While Adamson saw its streak come to an end, Ateneo extended its hot run to three straight games after downing UE in four sets, 25-14, 20-25, 25-11, 25-14. 

Faith Nisperos tallied 19 points on 15 attacks, 3 aces, and a block to go along with s7 excellent receptions while Vanie Gandler produced 16 points on 12 attacks, 3 aces, and a block laced with 14 excellent digs.

Ateneo stretched its run to three to tie Adamson and UP at 3-3. 

“We’re not counting the streak, we just want to be better every game and this game is not different from the other games, we have to prepare too for UE,” said Ateneo head coach Oliver Almadro. 

Rocky start

UST’s Ypril Tapia, who scored 3 points which included back-to-back aces in the final set, registered 11 points to backstop Laure. 

Ysa Jimenez chipped in 8 points while Christine Ecalla and Kecelyn Galdones added 7 and 6 points, respectively, for UST.

UST had a rocky start in the game, losing by as many as 13 points in the opening set before taking the next two for the 2-1 lead. Adamson, however, did not go down without a fight, building a nine-point cushion late in the fourth to send the game to a decider.

Balanced was the Lady Falcons’ attack with four players hitting the double-digit mark led by Trisha Genesis with 15 points to go along with 14 excellent digs and 9 excellent receptions. 

Kate Santiago chipped in 13 points while Almonte and Andrea Cruz each had 10 points. Louie Romero, who also had 4 markers in the loss, tossed 19 excellent sets for the Lady Falcons.

UST will cap off its first round against Ateneo on Thursday at 4 pm while Adamson will face UE at 10 am on the same day. – Rappler.com