THE UST Golden Tigresses snapped a four-game losing skid with a 25-19, 25-14, 23-25, 25-22 win against the University of the East (UE) at The Arena in San Juan last Jan. 18, but were dominated by the National University four days later.
With the straight-set loss to NU, 25-16, 25-20, 25-23, the Golden Tigresses would have to win all their remaining games in the second round to keep their Final Four hopes alive, said coach Odjie Mamon.
Mamon said his wards became complacent against UST. “I noticed the tendency of the girls to relax in the last, most crucial moments of the game,” he said.
The Lady Warriors, who were gunning for their first win of the season, took advantage of UST’s meltdown in the third set as team captain Sarina Bulan scored back-to-back service aces to put UE ahead, 21-16.
Golden Tigress Alex Cabaños then tallied three straight service aces of her own to tie the game at 21-all, but UE still took the set via Bulan’s crosscourt shot.
The Lady Warriors put up an early 5-0 lead in the succeeding frame. But Pamela Lastimosa, Carmela Tunay and Jessie De Leon took over for UST to tie the game at 13 points apiece and ultimately seal the win. “We’ll keep on training harder and harder because we need to make it to the Final Four,” Mamon said.
Lastimosa led UST with 18 points, including 15 spikes. De Leon and Tunay contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Lady Warrior Shaya Adorador had 12 points for UE. Bulan chipped in 11 markers.
Last Jan. 22, the Tigresses yielded a tightly-contested third set as NU grabbed its eighth win in nine games.
The Lady Bulldogs led the last frame and reached match point, 24-20, when UST launched a 3-0 run to cut the lead to one. However, Loren Lantin committed a service error as the Golden Tigresses marked their sixth loss of the season.
Dindin Santiago led the scoring for NU with 16 points, while Jem Gutierrez tallied 10 points for UST.
