THE UST Spikers fell short of an off-season title and settled for identical runners-up finishes in the second Eagle Ridge Volleyball Championship held at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in General Trias, Cavite from March 10 to 11.
The Lady Spikers succumbed to this year’s UAAP champion De La Salle University, 17-25, 23-25, 20-25, while their male counterparts bowed down to the National University (NU) Bulldogs, 22-25, 19-25, 22-25, in the championship round.
The España-based volleybelles scraped past the Far Eastern University (FEU) in the elimination round, 26-28, 25-20, 25-23, to secure the second spot. They also toppled the University of the East (UE), 26-24, 25-20, but lost to a veteran La Salle squad, 25-15, 25-23.
In the semifinals, the Tiger Spikers exacted revenge against Eagle Ridge title-holder and UAAP Season 74 winner FEU, which denied them of a fifth-straight UAAP title. UST won in three sets, 25-22, 17-25, 28-26.
“Bumigay kaagad ang katawan namin dahil naubos nung semi-finals kalaban ang FEU. After semi-finals, five to six hours lang ang pahinga tapos championship kaagad,” UAAP Season 74 Most Valuable Player (MVP) and team captain Jayson Ramos said.
UST earlier dominated the elimination round, defeating the University of Perpetual Help-Biñan (25-18, 25-27, 25-20), the Ateneo de Manila University (25-19, 25-20), and tournament champion NU (21-25, 25-21 and 25-14).
The league gathered eight teams in the men’s division, including the 2011 National Private Schools Athletics Association champion De La Salle University-Dasmarinas. Squads were divided into two pools and went through a single, round-robin series with a step-ladder format.
The women’s side included four UAAP teams—UST, La Salle, UE, and FEU–and followed the same rules of the two-day event.
The Tiger Spikers featured prominent alumni, including three-time UAAP Best Server and Season 71 MVP Ray Karl Dimaculangan, Season 71 Best Receiver and Season 72 Finals’ MVP Henry James Pecaña, and Season 73 Best Scorer, Best Attacker and MVP John Paul Torres.
Now on its second year, the Eagle Ridge volleyball competition is an invitational cup for collegiate squads. Alexis U. Cerado
