The UST Golden Tigresses fought hard to an extended fifth set but narrowly lost against the DLSU Lady Spikers, 25-22, 18-25, 25-14, 24-26, 24-26, in their 2023 Shakey’s Super League National Invitationals semifinal knockout match at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Friday, Aug. 4.
The Tigresses demonstrated an inability to finish games successfully, as they missed several opportunities to secure victory with multiple match points across both the fourth and fifth sets.
Tied at nine-all in the fifth set, La Salle and UST engaged in a series of 16 deadlocks before Lady Spikers Thea Gagate and Alleiah Malaluan secured the winning points to punch DLSU a finals ticket, 26-24.
The Tigresses relinquished their late three-point lead in the fourth set at 23-20, enabling the Lady Spikers to mount a 6-1 run and push the game to a deciding salvo.
UST dominated the third frame with a 14-6 blitz to comfortably win the set, 25-14.
Following UST’s hard-fought win in the first set, 25-22, the Lady Spikers struck back with a 25-18 victory in the second set, leveling the game at one set apiece.
Rookie Angeline Poyos and incoming second-year player Regina Jurado had stellar offensive outings for UST, tallying 29 and 25 markers, respectively.
Alleiah Malaluan and Shevana Laput led the Lady Spikers with 25 and 23 points, respectively.
The Lady Spikers are set to compete against the Adamson Lady Falcons in a best-of-three finals series, while the Golden Tigresses will face the University of Perpetual Help Lady Altas in the battle for bronze on Wednesday, Aug. 9, at the same venue. Emmanuel John B. Abris
