REVENGE is sweet for the UST Lady Spikers as they whipped bitter rivals De La Salle University Lady Archers in a booming 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-16 win in the 4th Shakey’s V-League tournament last May 22 at the Arena in San Juan.
Yearning for a rematch for the last two years after their V-League finals loss back in July 2005, coach Augusto Santamaria’s wards came out roaring in every possession and showed no sign of being intimidated, even against La Salle’s towering guest player, Sanorseeang Areerat, a Thailand national player.
“I told them that anyone who is scared of playing against La Salle must stay in the dugout until the game ends,” Santamaria told the Varsitarian. “It appears that they were not scared because they responded to my call and won this game.”
After dropping the first set in a close call, UST used strong finishes in the succeeding sets to press UST’s vengeance bid. With UST’s slim 17-15 lead, Season 69 MVP Venus Bernal redeemed herself from three previous service errors and led the 8-5 breakaway run with her crosscourt hits to even the count at one set apiece.
It was an exchange of hits and misses in the third set until UST frontliners Mary Jean Balse, Lilet Mabbayad, Ma. Angeli Tabaquero, and Aiza Maizo scored on blocks and pumped up quick hits for a 12-6 blast at the 12-point mark to hand the set to UST.
UST’s onslaught continued until the fourth set as Balse made the UAAP champions’ court unfathomable, scoring seven of her 15 points with in-your-face blocks and solid hits from all court areas. Bernal and Season 68 Rookie of the Year Mabbayad typified UST’s dominance by punctuating UST’s revengeful triumph with twin kills.
“What is important is that we will fight our hearts out against any opponent, and that gave us this game,” Santamaria said.
Bernal registered a sensational performance with a game-high 27 points, while Tabaquero added nine markers and six digs.
In the distaff, guest player Amy Guanco paced La Salle with 10 points, while hotshot Areerat was limited to nine points.
Juniors leg
The UST High School Girls Volleyball squad remain unbeaten in the 2007 Shakey’s V-League campaign as they blasted the Imus Institute (25-10, 25-15) and Holy Family School (25-11,25-15) in the best of three match last May 6 and 13 at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym.
Although it was a quick win for them, coach Francis Vicente believes that their play and defense need to be improved with the presence of equally strong teams.
“This would only serve as a training ground for them” Vicente said.
Spearheaded by Maruja Banaticla with 7.2 points per game, UST dominated their Cavite-based rivals in their first game in the 15-minute tussle while stalwarts Alyssa Valdez and Rea Dimaculangan combined for 26 points.
The UST girl’s squad hurled a barrage of volleys to Imus in the first set, which easily pierced through their adversary’s defense and allowed them a 15-0 run which eventually gave them the first set.
Imus put up a close fight as it mustered up points with a short 3-0 run at five, giving the UST girls a challenge who however caught up and eventually called it 9-all before the timeout. UST proved more than a handful for Imus as it pulled off another run, 5-0, that eventually spelled out Imus’ defeat at 25-15 in the second set.
Topscorers June Diaz and Mariel Legazpi combined for 12 points in the team’s 17 points.
The high school volley belles continued their winning streak in Bracket C as they crushed Holy Family in the second round of eliminations at 25-11, 25-15. The Tigresses’ duo Maruja Banaticla and Aerieal Patnongon imposed their attacks across the court, combining for 16 markers, while Kim Fajardo registered seven points.
