Tag: Vol. LXXX

TOUGHENED by a pair of heartbreaking losses in their previous outings, the UST Softbelles took their last bow in Season 71 with a 14-3 demolition of De La Salle University, en route to carving a bridesmaid finish last Feb. 14 at the UST Open field.

Despite touting a second-best 6-4 win-loss record, UST, as well as the other squads never gained a crack at the title as undefeated Adamson Univeristy pulverized University of the Philippines (UP), 10-0, in the succeeding match. The elimination-round sweep assured Adamson an outright championship.

COMPARED to last year’s 159-point barometer, the UST Male Tracksters who last won the title way back Season 65 almost scored an upset but fell short to snatch the crown by a slim six-point deficit in the UAAP Season 71 Track and Field championships last Feb. 5 to 8 at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The España-based tracksters’ second best 211 points failed to overthrow “four-peat” champions Far Eastern University (217 points) but was enough to edge out Ateneo de Manila University which collected 191 markers.

THE UST Lady Tennisters capped the tail-end of Season 71 with an immaculate 6-0 win-loss record en route to their third straight UAAP title.

Playing their last game on Valentine’s Day, the Lady Tennisters dealt a hapless De La Salle University squad with a 3-0 heartbreaker to extend their winning streak to 11 games since bagging the UAAP diadem in Season 69.

Lady Tennister Marie Santos led UST’s championship march overwhelming La Salle’s Maria Isabel Sotto, 6-4, 6-2.

THE UST Tiger Spikers extended their winning streak to 11 games, moving a step closer toward sweeping the eliminations and booking an outright finals slot in the UAAP men’s volleyball action.

UST, last season’s champions, boosted its title-retention bid with a 25-13, 25-21, 17-25, 25-21 mangling of league rival Far Eastern University (FEU) last Jan. 31 at The Arena in San Juan.

Despite yielding a set – their only loss in the entire second round thus far – to FEU, UST’s defensive might anchored on Jayson Ramos, Henry Pecaña and Reny Balse proved too much for FEU in the waning moments of the fourth frame as the Tiger Spikers broke away from a tight 18-all deadlock via a 7- 3 run to ice the game.

With FEU main man Joshua Alcarde on the firing line back in the third set, the Tamaraws pounced on the Tiger Spikers’ faulty ball handling to take the lead for the first time, 11-6.

BADLY needing a win to stay in the championship hunt, the UST Golden Booters turned to veteran David Basa.

And the steady UST midfielder responded well, netting the game’s only goal to help the Golden Booters secure a 1-0 victory over the erstwhile unbeaten De La Salle University, last Feb. 1 at the Ateneo de Manila University Erenchun field.

The La Salle squeaker gave UST its second win on top of two draws and a loss to cap the first round of the UAAP football hostilities.

ATONING for an inconsistent first-round performance, the UST Softbelles marked their resurgence with a 14-8 conquest of University of the Philippines last Feb. 4 at the UST open field to keep their title hopes alive in the Season 71 softball competition.

Softbelle Lani Sarmiento’s homer off a powerful center-left field hit fuelled a ten-run UST scoring juggernaut in the second-inning which spelled trouble for the Diliman-based batters. UST then decimated UP’s batting order, striking out Angel Jadloc, Eliza Legarte and Nicolet Cruz.

FIRING up the season with a smashing headstart, the UST Tiger Spikers walloped a listless University of the Philippines in straight sets, 25-15, 25-14, 25-11, to couch their back-to-back title aspirations on an immaculate 3-0 win-loss record early in the Season 71 volleyball tournament.

The reigning UAAP champions banked on the attacks of Season 71 beach volleyball MVP Hanry Pecaña and Raykarl Dimaculangan to reap a whopping 11-3 first-set advantage for UST in its Dec.14 face-off with the Maroons at the Far Eastern University (FEU) gym.

UST took a ten-point lead at the turn cushioned by a barrage of kills from its frontliners before Pecaña rose to the net to bury the first-set finisher.

The second set left the Diliman-based squad in a daze as UST pulled away from a 5-all deadlock to seize the upperhand, 10-6. With John Torres leading the charge on the offensive end, the Tiger Spikers proved unstoppable, discharging an 11-point surge to reach set point, 24-14, before new recruit Julius Sioson finalized the count with a kill that gave UST a 2-0 set-lead.

IMAGINE Santa personally handing you a big yellow box neatly tied with a white ribbon and with an “Especially for You” card. What would you want to see inside?

The answer, if UST coaches are to be asked, can be summed up in two words: championship titles.

“Next year’s UAAP championship trophy,” Tiger Cubs coach Allan Ascue said in reply to the question. “I also want everybody in the team to excel and raise their caliber,” Ascue added.

WAVING yellow balloons while cheering for the UST team during a game may be the popular way to exhibit school spirit. But four students thought of wearing their support for the Tiger team on their sleeves – literally.

Fourth year Advertising seniors Josephine Bunag, Andrew Apuya, Lance Alvin Ferrer and Tyrone Usana took fabric as their canvas and made their affinity for the University as inspiration for their designs.

What resulted was Rawr!, a name conceived by the quartet of Fine Arts students to best describe their line of t-shirts.

FRAYED nerves on the receiving end denied the UST Lady Spikers a fourth Shakey’s V-League crown, allowing the title-hungry San Sebastian College Lady Stags to snatch the tournament’s fifth season diadem via a 25-16, 21-25, 16-25, 21-25, Game 2 clincher last November 30 at the Arena in San Juan.

The best-of-three finals playbill was the third championship encounter between the two squads. UST won the first two meetings in the two conferences of the tournament’s fourth season.

“San Sebastian has always been a tough opponent ever since. Their key players posed a real threat to us,” coach Cesael de los Santos told the Varsitarian.