THE UST Junior Golden Tigresses made quick work of the UPIS Junior Fighting Maroons, 25-13, 25-13, 25-22, to remain unscathed in Round 2 of the UAAP Season 87 girls’ volleyball tournament at the Paco Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
The Junior Golden Tigresses extended their winning streak to four games while maintaining their No. 2 rank with an 8-2 win-loss record. Meanwhile, UPIS dropped to a 2-9 slate.
Holding a slim 9-7 advantage in the first frame, UST unleashed a 9-3 run to pull away, 18-10. The Junior Golden Tigresses limited UP to only three more points in the period before Aneeza Santos secured the set win for UST, 25-13.
Despite fielding an entirely different lineup in the second salvo, UST stayed hot and blasted the Junior Fighting Maroons with a 9-2 start built on six markers from Jhelaine Auxtero.
The Junior Golden Tigresses rode this momentum and pulled away with an 11-point cushion, 21-10, before burying UP two sets to none, 25-13.
Holding a slim advantage in the final set, 8-5, UST used an 8-1 burst to widen the gap to 10 midway through the frame, 16-6.
However, the Junior Fighting Maroons managed to find a spark with Nina Abad’s down-the-line kill, clawing their way back to 22-all. UST regained composure and secured the set and the win, 25-22.
“‘Yong second six ‘yong ginamit namin this game para sa exposure nila, experience, at saka ‘yong confidence sa sarili,” UST head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes told the Varsitarian.
Auxtero paced the Golden Tigresses with eight markers, while Jezrel Silvestre, Kimberly Rubin, and Antoneete Jaramillo added six markers apiece.
“Magandang nagkaroon ng exposure ‘yong mga second six natin. They can use that to gain confidence…na anytime na kukunin sila sa bench, puwede silang magamit,” UST assistant coach Lerma Giron told the Varsitarian.
Abad and Andrea Pagaluyan led UP in the loss with 10 markers apiece.
The Golden Tigresses will next face the NUNS Lady Bullpups at the same venue on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 9 a.m.
