Tag: No. 3

THE UST Growling Tigresses finished at fourth place after faltering anew in the fourth quarter with a 61-62 defeat against the Far Eastern University in the UAAP Season 77 women’s basketball stepladder semifinals at the Mall of Asia Arena last Sept. 21.

With less than a minute remaining in regulation, the Tigresses squandered several possessions that resulted in a resounding 13-2 FEU surge, capped with a Claire Castro layup to snatch the lead from UST, 60-61.

Lore Rivera managed to tie things up again at 61-all after a split from the stripe with 20 seconds remaining, but Lady Tamaraw Lorraine Ventura pushed her squad back on top with a split of her own, 61-62.

ONE MORE for the dream.

Two-time Palarong Pambansa badminton doubles’ champion Anna Patricia Barredo will have to wait another season to fulfill her dream of leading the UST Female Shuttlers to the UAAP title.

Barredo, the top women’s badminton player of UST for four years now, failed to tow her squad to the Final Four. The Female Shuttlers lost to Far Eastern University in a playoff and settled for fifth place.

Barredo, the former top-ranked Philippine mixed doubles player, was the lone bright spot for the Female Shuttlers this season after winning 12 games, sweeping all her singles matches and winning five out of seven of her doubles games.

JUST because we wrote about the UST Growling Tigers’ loss does not mean we had lost heart for the Tigers.

For campus journalists, writing about your home team is always a struggle. The heartbreaking news that the Tigers won’t be part of UAAP Season 77 Basketball's Final Four was no exception. There were several missed opportunities and moments of frustration for Thomasians, the V staff included.

Some supporters of the Tigers have criticized the V for emphasizing the failures of the basketball team, especially with the entry of Bong dela Cruz as coach. But we simply wrote about what happened in the game, win or lose. Our job is to report the facts.

THOMASIANS are looking forward to competing against top technological schools in Asia next year following the cancellation of this year’s region-wide Shell Eco Marathon-Asia (SEM).

The SEM is an annual competition that promotes fuel efficiency with vehicles designed to travel the longest distance with the least amount of energy possible.

In a letter sent to UST, SEM-Asia Regional Project Manager Frank Saing explained that the event was cancelled due to the “worsening air quality with heavy haze” in Kuala Lumpur, where the race was supposed to take place from July 4 to 7. The haze was caused by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia.

The marathon will be held in February 2014 at Rizal Park in Manila.

A SHORTHANDED UST Growling Tigers succumbed to a streaking Far Eastern University (FEU), 67-77, in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena last July 21.

The Tigers, who missed the services of star player Jeric Teng and guard Edcor Marata, kept up with FEU through three quarters, 56-62, but lost fuel in the payoff period as the Tamaraws went on a 14-5 run.

UST was limited to one field goal during that stretch until a Karim Abdul layup with 17.7 ticks remaining.

Abdul paced the Tigers with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Kevin Ferrer, who wore a face mask to protect a cheek earlier fractured from a hit by University of the East’s (UE) Ralf Olivarez, chipped in 18 markers.

THE HOME of Philippine sports is now for sale.

The historic Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC) has been put on sale by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the local government of Manila due to the “continuous increase of pollution and traffic in the area that makes it not friendly for national athletes.”

Built in 1934, the 10-hectare sports complex houses stadiums for basketball, baseball, softball, badminton, track and field, football, swimming, lawn tennis, judo and fencing. It also features training venues for taekwondo, gymnastics, bowling and boxing.

FINALLY, there is life after collegiate competition for our country’s top volleybelles.

They can now participate in the Philippine Super Liga (PSL), the first-ever semi-professional and commercial club volleyball league in the country.

The PSL could also serve as a training ground for future national players, especially after the fallout of the Bomberinas and the lackluster performance shown by the Shakey’s V-League Selection last month in Vietnam.

After her stellar career as a UST Lady Spiker, Angeli Tabaquero said PSL provides big opportunities for former college players like her to continue playing and get paid for what they do.

THE UST Tiger Cubs suffered a fourth-quarter meltdown and surrendered to a much-improved University of the East, 55-62, in the UAAP juniors basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena last July 21.

Despite Aaron Reyes’ career-high 20 points and 23 rebounds and Ice Dandan’s 20 markers, the Tiger Cubs fell to their third consecutive loss. UST banked on successive full-court presses to climb back from 13 points down and trim UE’s lead to seven, 53-60, in the last two minutes of the game.

But the Junior Warriors just melted the clock in the dying seconds to cop their first victory of the season. Mark Del Rosario led the Junior Warriors with 12 points and 11 boards.

ACADEMIC problems forced him to sit out for a year, but reigning UAAP indoor volleyball Most Valuable Player Mark Gil Alfafara finally returns to the sand this season to help carry UST back to the top.

He said he was raring to go and make an immediate impact on the team without necessarily being overconfident.

“‘Yung mindset ko noon ay babawi ako, hindi ako nakalaro sa beach volley[ball] kaya babawiin ko sa indoor at sa beach volleyball, pero inuna ko pa rin ‘yung studies ko talaga,” the soft-spoken Alfafara said.

Aside from his credentials as a player, he said making the new guys “comfortable” would be another goal.