UST survives gritty Adamson; NU one win away from first round sweep (Sabong News)
Author
Carlo Anolin
Date
MAY 17 2022
University of Santo Tomas survived the gritty Adamson in a five-set thriller, 12-25, 25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 15-9, while National University moved a win away from a first round elimination sweep with a 25-10, 25-11, 25-12 routing of Far Eastern University in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Tuesday night, May 17.
Eya Laure once again showed her offensive prowess and finished with 23 points built on 19 attacks and four blocks to lift the Tigresses to a share of second spot with the De La Salle Lady Spikers with 4-2 records.
UST capitalized on Adamson’s late slump in the fifth and final set as the España-based squad easily scored five straight points off three errors.
With pressure at match point, 14-8, the Lady Falcons held on to dear life as Lucille Almonte delivered but Laure responded with a spike of her own for the win.
For Tigresses head coach Kungfu Reyes, it all boiled down to their steely nerves in the endgame.
“Kalimutan ‘yong first four sets, erase na lahat,” said Reyes. “Ang pinakaimportante ‘yong fifth set kasi gaya ng sinabi namin noon sa mga previous matches namin, sa five sets patatagan lang ng dibdib, palakas ng isip so every point counts.
“Bawal ang magkamali. ‘Yon lang naman ang binigay naming instructions sa kanila the rest sila na yung nag trabaho sa loob.”
Ypril Tapia, who also made key conversions down the stretch including back-to-back service aces in the fifth canto, finished with 11 points for UST while Ysa Jimenez, Christine Ecalla, and Kecelyn Galdonez chipped in eight, seven, and six markers, respectively.
Trisha Genesis led the Lady Falcons’ balanced attack with 15 points all from attacks, Kate Santiago added 13 markers, while Almonte and Andrea Cruz had 10 points apiece.
In the last game, the Lady Bulldogs are on the cusp of a first round sweep still behind the efforts of Michaela Belen, who spearheaded NU with 12 attacks.
Ivy Lacsina also scored all her 10 points off spikes while team captain Princess Robles and Alexa Mata had nine points each as NU only needed an hour and 19 minutes to get its sixth straight win.
The Lady Bulldogs asserted dominance from the get-go and pulled away by as many as 10 points in each sets, holding off the Lady Tamaraws to a total of 33 points only.
Chen Tagaod and Jean Asis, who were both limited to five markers apiece, paced the Lady Tamaraws who fell to a 1-5 slate.
