THE UST Tiger Spikers pulled off a nail-biting 30-28, 23-25, 25-23, 10-25, 15-12 win against the Adamson University Soaring Falcons in the UAAP Season 79 men’s volleyball tournament at the Arena in San Juan Saturday.
UST took advantage of the Falcons’ 42 errors as it improved to a 3-2 win-loss card.
Leading 11-6 in the final set, the Tiger Spikers were on the receiving end of a 6-2 Adamson run before UST team captain Arnold Bautista iced the game with back-to-back down-the-line hits.
“We had five days to prepare pero nasira ‘yung laro noong nilabas ko ‘yung key players. Pero despite that nanalo pa rin kasi may mga puntos sa crucial parts of the game,” UST head coach Odjie Mamon said.
UST could have finished the game at the fourth set but Adamson zoomed to a quick 8-1 advantage before closing it out on a 14-5 blitz.
The Falcons, who trailed 14-19 in the third set, snatched the lead using an 8-2 run, 22-21. But the Tiger Spikers scored four of the last five points for a 2-1 set advantage.
Manuel Medina led the Tiger Spikers with 17 points while Bautista and Jayvee Sumagaysay chipped in 14 and 11 markers, respectively.
Jerome Sarmiento paced Adamson with 19 points.
Up next for UST are the National University Bulldogs on Mar. 1, Wednesday, 10 a.m., at the same venue.
