Tag: Vol. LXXXVII

THE UST Tigresses failed to notch a semifinals spot for the first time in three years following a 53-64 overtime loss in their do-or-die game against the Ateneo Lady Eagles in the UAAP Season 78 women’s basketball tournament held at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym last Nov. 18.

The Tigresses finished fifth place with a 6-9 record.

After forcing overtime, the Tigresses ran out of steam and blew their chance to take the lead after missing all of their four fastbreak layup attempts.

The Tigresses trimmed Ateneo’s 16-point lead to six at the start of the fourth quarter, 34-40, after a furious 17-7 run led by Misaela Larosa and team captain Maica Cortes.

THE UST Growling Tigers booked a spot in the Final 4 with an 83-76 victory over the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena last Oct. 25.

Kevin Ferrer, who shot an awful 1-of-11 from the field in UST’s loss to the Ateneo de Manila University, led the Tigers’ offense with a career-high 29 points, 23 of them coming in the second half, and a season-high 14 rebounds.

Veterans Louie Vigil and Ed Daquioag chipped in 16 and 15 markers, respectively.

Ferrer and Daquioag led a 7-2 rally in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Fighting Maroons, 76-68.

THE UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe (SDT) recorded its best finish in seven years, placing second to defending champion National University (NU) Pep Squad in the 2015 UAAP Cheerdance Competition at the Mall of Asia Arena last Oct. 3.

Performing before a record crowd of 25,388, Salinggawi and its African-inspired routine got 651.5 points behind NU’s 668 points.

With an inarguably perfect routine, SDT led the competition in the dance criteria with 354 points with a deduction only three points. But NU’s caveman-themed routine was still good points for its third straight cheerdance crown.

This was SDT’s fifth silver in cheerdance history. Salinggawi still shares the most number of cheerdance titles with University of the Philippines Pep Squad at eight.

THE UST Tiger Jins scored back-to-back championships while the Lady Jins improved to second place in their respective divisions in the UAAP Season 78 taekwondo tournament at the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagle Gym last Oct. 23.

The Tiger Jins trounced a gritty University of the East squad, 5-2, to top the tourney for the second straight year, while the Lady Jins, who slid to third place last year, failed to regain the championship they last won in Season 76.

Both UST squads shared an identical 5-1 win-loss card with UE but the Lady Warriors came out victorious via quotient rule by prevailing against the Lady Jins in their previous encounter, 4-3.

NO CROWN for the UST Spikers this year.

After sweeping the elimination round last year en route to the championship, the Lady Spikers crashed to fifth place while the Tiger Spikers settled for another silver-medal finish in the UAAP Season 78 beach volley tournament at the Sands SM by the Bay from Oct. 9 to 21.

The duo of Cherry Rondina and Rica Rivera, who recorded a 7-0 sweep in their rookie season last year, came up with only four wins in seven outings.

Rondina and Rivera had the chance to book a Final Four seat with a twice-to-beat incentive but De La Salle University’s tandem of Kim Fajardo, this year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), and Cyd Demicillo erased UST’s championship hopes, 21-19, 20-22, 14-16.

AFTER a heartbreaking third-place finish last year, the UST Tiger Jins dethroned the University of the Philippines (UP) to reclaim the crown in the UAAP Season 78 poomsae championships at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym last Oct.21.

The Tiger Jins clinched their second title as poomsae marked its third year as an official UAAP sport.

UST snatched three gold medals and a silver to top University of the Philippines and De La Salle University which claimed second and third place, respectively.

The Tiger Jins, which swept the tournament en route to the championship in the event’s maiden year in 2013, surprisingly dropped to third place last season behind La Salle and eventual champions UP.

THOMASIAN athletes are hungrier than ever to keep the overall crown in España. Here is the second part of The Varsitarian’s prediction of the University's performance for the first semester sports this UAAP Season 78.

Growling Tigers
Last year: Sixth place
Prediction: Finals

With Ed Daquioag’s emergence as an MVP-caliber player, along with Kevin Ferrer's and Karim Abdul’s steady performance, the Tigers are primed to go to the last dance after stumbling to a 5-9 finish last season.

The Tigers’ bench, one of the deepest in the UAAP, will be spearheaded by sharpshooters Renzo Subido and Louie Vigil, along with rookie scorers Mario Bonleon, Enrique Caunan, Marvin Lee, and Zachary Huang.

After a disappointing final UAAP year, with the Growling Tigers missing the Final Four after back-to-back finals appearances, Aljon Mariano will start anew in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) with crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra.

The “Clutch Cat” slipped in the second round of the PBA Rookie Draft last Aug. 23, after getting picked 16th over all and will be playing his natural position as a shooting guard for Tim Cone, PBA’s winningest coach.

“Looking forward na maganda ang ilaro ko kasi mas natural na ang positionw college,” Mariano told the Varsitarian.

THE VULNERABILITY of homegrown talents being lured by other universities has been intensified with the enactment of a new law that “protects and promotes the rights of student-athletes.”

Republic Act No. 10676 or the “Student-Athlete Protection Act” voids the UAAP's mandatory two-year residency, implemented in 2013, on high school student-athletes not released by their alma mater.

Section 4 of the law, enacted last Aug. 26, states that “residency shall not be imposed on a student-athlete who is a high school graduate enrolling in a college or university” while collegiate transfers would only be limited to a maximum of one-year residency.

UST Golden Tigresses’ hopes of ending a three-year finals dry spell vanished after a straight-set loss to UAAP defending champions Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles, 18-25, 18-25, 19-25, in a do-or-die Game 3 of the 12th Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference semifinals at the San Juan Arena last. Sept. 16.

The Lady Eagles dominated with 32 attack points, nine block points and seven aces.

UST only had 27 attack points, three block points and four service aces while committing a 27 errors.

Ateneo was leading 24-14 in the last frame before UST racked up five straight points. A service error from Tigress EJ Laure secured the Lady Eagles a finals berth.