UAAP championships seem to be a dime a dozen for UST.
Emerging as general champions for the twelfth straight year, the Tigers remain unbeaten, defending UST territory and claiming its 37th title since the league’s conception in 1938.
“We have been general champions all these years because of the athletes. They are the ones we should thank because without them, we are not here,” said Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., director of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics.
The España squad painted the season black and gold after amassing 305 points leaving perennial title contenders De La Salle University and host Far Eastern University (FEU) way behind with 252 and 229, at second and third place, respectively.
UST was on the driver seat from the first half of the season with a massive 153 points but the sneaking Archers were only 17 points behind.
In all the 28 events, UST won seven, tying with FEU as the schools with the most number of championships won in the season. The España-army claimed the top spot in Men’s Tennis, Men’s Taekwondo, Men’s Badminton, Men’s Beach Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Volleyball and Softball.
After two fruitless years of campaign, the fourth-seeded Male Shuttlers reclaimed their crown after a come-from-behind victory against perennial rivals La Salle, while the Taekwondo Jins asserted dominance and defended their title in the mats against FEU, en route to starting another formidable championship dynasty. Meanwhile, the duo of Tiger Spikers Jayson Ramos and Henry Pecaña planted their flag in beach volleyball to rule the sands anew.
Halfway to the crown
UST typified league dominance in the second semester with four more event titles, bolstering its first semester campaign.
Decades of frustration finally ended for the Softbelles, as they finally copped their first-ever championship crown in the UAAP. The victory was twice as sweet as the team swept the eliminations in a convincing fashion, 10-0, for an outright title berth, out seating perennial strong-armed Adamson University with an 8-3 finish on their last game. Not to be outdone, the Male Tennisters also had an immaculate campaign with an 8-0 sweep, bulldozing La Salle, 4-1, on their season-ender debacle.
In volleyball action, the Tiger Spikers came out on top with their third straight championship after once again facing archrivals FEU. The Tiger Spikers swept FEU in their best-of-three finals in three straight sets, keeping their win-lose slate spotless in the second round of eliminations. Meanwhile, the Lady Spikers snapped a three-year dry spell after snatching the crown from defending champions De La Salle. This is the first UAAP title the team earned under the coach Cesael delos Santos.
UST also displayed excellence in other sports, collecting eight runners-up and two third place finishes.
After six years of dominating the judo wars, the Lady Jins surrendered what would have been a seven-peat performance and settled for second place after facing the stronger FEU team. Meanwhile, the Lady Booters, Tiger Paddlers, Lady Tennisters, and the Male Fencers, who were all last season’s champions, had to cut their time at the top, settling as bridesmaids this season. The Golden Booters and Lady Paddlers also ended with a bridesmaid finish as well as the Female Tracksters, who was once again nailed at second place for the fifth consecutive season.
The Male Woodpushers carved a decent third place finish with a total of 34.5 points, compared to the Female Woodpushers dismal sixth place finish. The Male Tigersharks’ title defense sank to third due to De La Salle’s 240-point output, with the España swimmers only managing to dish out 189 markers. Their counterparts, the Female Tigersharks, settled for fourth.
On the hard court, the Growling Tigers fell to the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in a 64-81 beating in the Final Four.
The Tigresses, Male Tracksters, and the beach volleyball tandem of Jen Fortuno and Maruja Banaticla were pinned at fourth place, while the Golden Sox fell to a lackluster fifth place finish.
On the other hand, The Tiger Judokas improved their status this year – from third place last year to second this season, with 29 points. The Lady Judokas also settled as bridesmaids with 34 points, eight markers behind four-year champions UP. The Tiger Paddlers surrendered a two-peat crown to FEU while the Lady Paddlers also failed to redeem themselves of a three-year championship hiatus against the same team. C.L.Abulencia and F.M.S.Villanueva
