THE UST Junior Golden Tigresses settled for bronze in the UAAP girls’ volleyball tournament after falling short against the defending champions NSNU Lady Bullpups, 20-25, 24-26, 25-18, 23-25, in their playoff for the finals spot at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
This marked UST’s first podium finish since 2019.
UST capitalized on seven service errors by NSNU in the first set to cut the deficit to three, 23-20.
However, back-to-back unsuccessful challenges by UST allowed the Lady Bullpups to draw first blood, 25-20.
In the second frame, UST gave NSNU a taste of its own medicine and pulled off a similar 9-3 run that tied the game at 19-all.
The set went on for three more deadlocks until the Lady Bullpups overcame the gritty Junior Tigresses for a two-sets-to-none lead, 26-24.
UST kept its bid alive and dominated the Lady Bullpups in the third set, 25-18.
A close fourth set saw UST and NSNU contesting for five straight deadlocks, 23-all, but Kianne Olango and Denese Daylisan scored back-to-back kills that handed the Lady Bullpups their 10th consecutive finals appearance that started in Season 75.
The last time UST appeared in the finals was six years ago in Season 80 where the Eya Laure-led Junior Golden Tigresses settled for silver against the NSNU Bullpups.
The undefeated Adamson Baby Falcons and NSNU Lady Bullpups will clash for a best-of-three finals series, starting with their Game 1 scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 8, 3 p.m. at the same venue.
