UST ROOKIE Angeline Poyos led the Golden Tigresses to their 11th win, a 25-19, 25-9, 25-17 thrashing of the UE Lady Red Warriors, in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, April 21.
Poyos scored 25 points on 21 attacks, three aces and one block. She became the highest-scoring rookie in UAAP history with 268 points in the 12 games she’s played this season, surpassing the 267-point record of former Blue Eagle Faith Nisperos.
With one game left to play in the elimination round, UST remained in the hunt for a twice-to-beat incentive after improving to an 11-2 record tied with the likewise twice-to-beat seeking NU, while UE dropped to a 2-11 card.
Tied at 14-all in the first set, the Tigresses pulled away with an 11-5 run capped by a quick hit from the returning Margaret Banagua, 25-19.
UST missed the services of Banagua in the last four outings due to a left knee injury sustained in their five-set win against Ateneo last March 20.
The Tigresses asserted their mastery over UE in the second frame with a 25-9 set win.
UE took advantage of UST’s six early errors in the third set to take a five-point lead over UST, 10-5, but the Tigresses responded with a game-sealing 20-7 spurt highlighted by five Poyos points.
“Malaking bagay ‘yong naging one-week break kasi nagkaroon kami ng time to recover, especially si Angge [Poyos] and Em [Banagua],” UST head coach Emilio ‘Kung fu’ Reyes said postgame. “Iyong iba nakapagisip-isip at reflect din, so marami kaming activity na nagawa these past few days bago itong game na ito.”
Regina Jurado scored 11 markers, while Jonna Perdido and Pia Abbu had six points apiece.
The league’s No. 1 setter Cassie Carballo tallied 17 excellent sets to go along with three points, while league-leading libero Bernadett Pepito had a double-double performance of 13 excellent digs and 11 excellent receptions.
No player from UE reached the double-digit mark. KC Cepada was the closest one with nine points, while league’s second-best scorer Casiey Dongallo was limited to seven points.
The UST Golden Tigresses will end the elimination round in a must-win game against the DLSU Lady Spikers that would determine the final seeding for the semifinals at the same venue on Saturday, April 27, at 4 p.m.
