WITH the second round of UAAP Season 69 volleyball competitions already underway, the UST teams are taking separate paths toward the championship.
The Lady Spikers stand unbeaten after nine outings, while Season 68 runners-up Tiger Spikers, despite losing Carlo Lubi to injury, posted a respectable 6-3 win-loss card, good enough for third.
“We’re on the right track,” Lady Spikers coach August Sta. Maria told the Varsitarian. “The team gets better with every win.”
Seeking to rebound from a dismal fourth-place finish last season, the Lady Spikers posted an average winning margin of nine points per set, dropping only two sets in their entire first-round campaign.
Meanwhile, the Tiger Spikers, the Season 68 runners-up, had to rely on a bunch of rookies to fill the offensive slack left by veteran front liner Lubi, who is recuperating from a strained right hand ligament injury he sustained during practice.
Impeccable
Using their height advantage to the hilt, the Lady Spikers blitzed past a listless National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs in a straight settter, 25-13, 25-17, 25-10, last Jan. 24 at the Blue Eagle Gym.
UST’s Venus Bernal and Mary Jean Balse imposed their towering frames in the net, limiting the awed NU frontline to 15 attacks throughout the 48-minute encounter.
The Lady Spikers bombarded NU’s erratic floor defense with quick plays and open kills for a commanding 19-8 first set-lead that set the tone of the match.
Bernal led UST with 15 points on nine attacks, four service aces, and two blocks, while Balse added 13 markers, including eight attacks and four service aces.
Resiliency became UST’s main weapon in deposing a stubborn Ateneo de Manila University (Ateneo) Lady Eagles, 18-25, 25-18, 26-24, 25-21 last Jan. 21.
Coming from an early first-set meltdown, the Lady Spikers tightened their defensive screws in the middle to keep Ateneo’s crosscourt forays in check.
As expected, the lethal tandem of Bernal and Bales led the Lady Strikers’ fiery offensive, pouncing on Attendee’s reception woes, which enabled UST to seize the crucial second and third sets for a 2-1 set advantage.
Despite trailing at 6-10 in the fourth set, the Lady Spikes easily atoned for their faulty set-plays as Bernal, Bales and Ma. Angeli Tabaquero blanked Ateneo’s frontal thrusts to push UST ahead, 24-21.
Bernal took the opposition’s backline to school with 24 points, while Balse and Tabaquero chipped in 15 and eight points, respectively.
“We played badly, but our will to keep an undefeated record gave us enough reason to continue fighting till the end,” Santamaria told the Varsitarian.
Prior to repeating over Ateneo, the Lady Spikers followed the same script to shame Adamson University, 23-15, 25-16, 25-23, 25-20, last Jan. 17.
Losing only two sets back in the first round, the Lady Spikers were virtually unchallenged as they posted an immaculate 6-0 win-loss slate.
UST won handily against University of the Philippines (UP), 25-12, 25-13, 25-20 last Jan. 15, and against University of the East (UE), 25-18, 25-13, 25-18, last Jan. 10.
Against second-seeded Far Eastern University (FEU), the Lady Spikers overcame a jittery first-set to claim a 16-25, 25- 19, 25-14, 25-17 win last Dec. 14. UST’s veteran-powered lineup made short work of its earlier assignments, crushing NU, 25-11, 25-9, 25-12, last Dec. 12, and Ateneo, 25-15, 25-14, 25-17 last Dec. 10. The Lady Spikers had debuted with a 23-25, 25-26, 25-13, 25-20 conquest of Adamson last Dec. 6.
Raw talent
Hobbled by inconsistency back in the first round, the Tiger Spikers are slowly reaching peak form, thanks to their gallant breed of rookies and holdovers who took turns in filling the absence of Lubi.
The Tiger Spikers stayed on the winning track with a clinical 25-15, 25-18, 25-16 dismantling of lightweight Ateneo last Jan. 23 at the UP College of Human Kinetics Gym.
Making up for the absence of Lubi, the quartet of Marlon Macabulos, Robertly Boto, Nozerino Roque, and Reny John Balse punished Ateneo’s sloppy game with relentless spiking and precise blocking.
“(What is good about) having a young line-up (is that) every one is given the chance to step up and (provide) energy to the team,” coach Emil Lontoc told the Varsitarian.
UST’s enhanced blocking onslaughts also factored greatly in its 25-23, 25-16, 25-21 manhandling of Adamson last Jan. 14.
But UST suffered a stinging 25-16, 20-25, 18-25 defeat at the hands of defending champion FEU last Jan. 18.
Lontoc’s wards whipped Ateneo, 25-7, 25-23, 25- 9, last Dec. 19, and thrashed UE, 25-15, 25-14, 25-10, last Dec. 17.
But they absorbed heartbreaking losses to FEU, 22-25, 25-18, 25-27, 22-25, last Dec. 14, and to UP, 26-28, 25-21, 20-25, 14-16, last Dec. 12.
Earlier, the España-based squad had shellacked NU, 25-21, 25-18, 25-17, last Dec. 10, and humiliated Adamson, 25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16, last Dec. 6.
