Tag: Vol. LXXXVII

Though leading the pack at the end of the first semester, UST cannot afford to slow down since it’s ahead La Salle by just two points in the race for the overall title. That means UST has to dominate the second semester events.

Male Tennisters
Last year: Second Place
Prediction: Finals

Despite the graduation of last season’s team captain Bernanlou Bering, the Male Tennisters are poised for another title shot this season.

Rookies Dave Masqueda, Clarence Cabahog and Christian Lopez will bolster this year’s lineup, while veteran Al Francis Potutan is expected to lead the team as the new captain.

Sophomore EJ Laure’s captaincy proved to be the positive change the Golden Tigresses needed.

Laure was hailed as captain as senior Carmela Tunay “struggled” when she temporarily held the position after captain Pam Lastimosa went out with a season-ending injury last December.

“Noong binigay siya kay EJ, para kong nabunutan ng tinik. Masyado kong inisip na kailangan kong madala ‘yung team. I was pressuring myself,” Tunay said.

Tunay downplayed ideas of a rift between her and Laure and even lauded the younger Tigresses for her leadership on and off the court.

“She knows what to say and when to say it,” added Tunay.

While Laure is captain on paper, the seniors still have the voice on the team, head coach Emilio Reyes noted.

THE UST Tiger Spikers may have lost a valuable gem in former UAAP Most Valuable Player Mark Alfafara but found a diamond in the rough in rookie Jomaru Amagan.

Amagan will be a key addition to the Tiger Spikers who have not tasted the championship since Season 74 as they look to dethrone defending champions Ateneo de Manila University.

The Imus native turned heads during his first and last stint in the National Collegiate Athletic Association donning the colors of Lyceum of the Philippines University Junior Pirates. He bagged four individual awards—Best Scorer, Best Server, Rookie of the Year and the MVP plum.

HALFWAY through the season, UST is clinging on a two-point lead over De La Salle University for the UAAP general championship.

UST has a total of 155 points in large part because of championships men’s taekwondo, women’s judo and poomsae.

But UST sports officials are not celebrating early, knowing a lot can still happen in the second semester.

UST took home silver medals in men’s basketball, men’s judo, men’s table tennis, men’s beach volleyball and women’s taekwondo, and grabbed bronze in women’s table tennis.

The Tiger Jins and the Female Judokas muscled their way into two consecutive championships while the UST poomsae squad redeemed themselves from last year’s third-place finishing on top podium this season.

UNFORTUNATELY, the third time still was not the charm.

The Tigers, for the third time in the last four years, ended another season with a heartbreak, losing to the FEU Tamaraws in three games for the UAAP basketball championship.

In the winner-take-all game, UST stormed back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter as Ed Daquioag took over and gave the Tigers a six-point lead, 59-53, with over three minutes left in the game.

But FEU’s Roger Pogoy had other plans. He scored seven straight points to secure the Tamaraws’ 20th basketball title and their first since 2005.

WITH THE fast-paced tide of information flowing from different media platforms, quality in journalism should not be overlooked.

This was the central theme of the 17th Inkblots held last Dec. 1 to 3, highlighting a series of lectures from the country’s top journalists.

Award-winning broadcast journalist and ABS-CBN news anchor, Karen Davila described journalism as a “calling,” which should be practiced with responsibly reporting stories to the public.

“In the past, you only get information unilaterally, through only one direct source, but social media has changed that; it is a portal of limitless information,” Davila said in her keynote address, speaking before the 263 campus journalists gathered at the Thomas Aquinas Research Center auditorium.

YOU CAN probably associate the word “paskuhan” only with one university—UST.

But UST’s Paskuhan, highlighted by a beautifully lit Christmas tree, captivating lights and enchanting music, does not only symbolize the Thomasians’ way of celebrating Christmas.

The colorful Paskuhan also mirror parts of history of the University and how Thomasians value charity, solidarity and spirituality.

Ever since it was organized, Paskuhan is not only a year-ender event for the Thomasians but also as a showcase of empathy during tragedy, celebrations, or simply as a countdown for a highly anticipated event for the following year.

UST Growling Tigers are back in the chase for the elusive UAAP title for the third time in four years after dethroning defending champions National University Bulldogs, 64-55 in the semifinals of the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum last Nov. 22.

UST was up by double digits for most of the final frame, with their largest lead at 16 points, following Kevin Ferrer’s baseline jumper off a crossover that put former Tiger Cub Kyle Neypes down on the floor with 6:40 remaining.

NU resorted to fouling Jon Sheriff, a 48.9-percent free throw shooter, to try to eat into UST’s lead. The fourth-year guard nailed only three of his 10 attempts as UST’s lead dwindled to seven, 62-55, with 27 ticks left.

THE UST Eco-Tigers are all set for the 2016 Shell Eco-Marathon Asia with improved vehicles to boost the University’s ranking.

After a year of designing and fabricating their entries, the Eco-Tigers, a team composed of engineering students, will parade their official entries “T400D” and “T400E” for the prototype and urban concept categories.

“We are more prepared this year and our aim is to top the competition. We are 100-percent confident that we can beat our previous record,” prototype team manager John Raymond Cornes said in an interview.

THE SHIFT in academic calendar, which also adjusted the UAAP schedule, provided extra training and recovery time for UST athletes, who now sit at the top of the overall ranking.

With five out of eight participating schools adjusting their academic calendars, host University of the Philippines moved the schedule of the UAAP Season 78 two months later than the usual July opening.

If last year’s schedule was adapted, the basketball championships should have been done by now and the second semester tournaments should have started already.

This change proved pivotal in UST’s overall championship campaign especially for the men’s basketball team, which is now in the Finals after an injury-plagued season 77.