WITH their 14-game sweep, the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws threw cold water on the UST Golden Spikers blistering run in the final stretch of the elimination round as the Tigress settled for third place.
Riding high on a four-game winning streak, the Lady Spikers were just starting to peak in their game after they strung decisive victories over Adamson University, University of the Philippines, and Ateneo de Manila University.
“Iniiwasan lang tayo ng FEU kasi nakita nila paakyat na iyong laro ng mga bata. Alam nila hindi na nila maawat iyong mga players natin,” UST coach Augusto Santamaria said.
The multi-titled coach added that if FEU had not copped the championship outright, UST might have given the Lady Tamaraws a run for their money in the event of a final four.
Fueled by the frustrated title hopes, the Golden Spikers bent their ire on a vulnerable University of the East squad, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18, in this season’s penultimate game in the UAAP volleyball tournament last Sept. 23 at the UP Diliman gymnasium.
UST ended the tournament tied with first runner-up De La Salle University, 11-3, but had to make do with second runner-up honors due to the Lady Archers’ superior quotient.
“Naka-set pa kasi iyong La Salle nung laban nila sa FEU kaya sila ang naging second. Kung natalo ng straight sets ng FEU iyong La Salle, tayo ang magiging second,” Santamaria explained.
Nevertheless, Santamaria did not pull back his punches as he allowed his big guns to play all throughout until the final set wherein the game was already in the Tigresses’ bag.
Veteran-spiker Joyce Pano led UST’s first set rampage as she scored at will against UE’s weak defense.
After a kill by UST’s Jocelyn Capati, Pano romped three consecutive kills to give the España-based spikers the first set.
UE, however, improved on its offensive plays in the next set as it was able to pace UST until the middle part of the game.
A spectacular fake by Amazon Spiker Rhea Medez gave UE the 10-5 lead.
But UST did not back down as it unleashed a 10-4 run to take the one-point lead. During that run, however, UST rookie Anna Fulo suffered an injury after scoring the point that leveled the game. Fulo was escorted by her teammates as she hobbled out of the court after a bad landing that twisted her left ankle.
UE used this to its advantage as it rallied back behind Amazon Geralyn Alberto to post a 23-20 lead.
That proved to be the Lady Amazons’ final point as the Tigresses took the set decisively and prevented UE from scoring any more points.
In the final set, UST relied on veterans Pano, Capati, and Meann Calapan to finally send UE out of their misery and claim its fifth straight win.
Despite UST’s improvement from its fourth-place finish last year, the victory proved to be bittersweet for veterans Kimberly Racaza and Bing Judan.
Racaza, the UST Lady Spikers’ team captain for three years, and Judan will both be graduating this year.
Meanwhile, the Lady Spikers scored an all-important win, 17-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-15, against gritty Adamson University last Sept. 16 at the UP gym.
With the help of the UST second stringers, the rusty performance of the starters were compensated as the Lady Spikers unveiled a deep offensive over the fatigued Adamson side.
The veteran-rookie connection of the Tigresses once again did wonders for the Espana-based Lady Spikers who used a balanced attack before shaking off the resilient Falcons.
In their game against UP, the Lady Spikers were on the groove as they easily deposed a struggling Diliman-based squad, 25-16, 26-24, 25-19, last Sept. 11 at the UP gym.
Power-hitting Lady Spiker Pano and rookie Fulo conspired for an offensive onslaught that toppled the hapless Lady Maroons.
UP just could not match the Tigresses who were vastly superior both on the defensive and offensive side. Dexter R. Matilla
