THE UST Golden Spikers concluded their elimination-round campaign with a 25-20, 25-27, 25-20, 25-18 loss to the DLSU Green Spikers in the UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, April 27.
UST, which dropped to an 8-6 win-loss record, will face the top-seeded and twice-to-beat FEU Tamaraws (12-2) in the semifinals. Meanwhile, DLSU forced a playoff for the second seed against NU after both ended the eliminations with identical 11-3 cards.
The Golden Spikers relinquished the first set after a 19-13 DLSU run capped off by a Billie Anima off-the-block kill, 25-20.
After a crosscourt kill by Vince Maglinao that tied the second set at 25-all, Sherwin Umandal and Gboy de Vega scored consecutive crosscourt kills to even things up for UST.
With DLSU only up by one in the third frame, 19-18, the Green Spikers capitalized on the absence of Josh Ybañez and went on a 6-2 run to take a 2-1 lead.
Ybañez sat out of the game late in the third after an awkward landing from the service line. He returned to the game to open the fourth set with a crosscourt kill.
However, the momentum was still in DLSU’s hands after sprinting to a 21-16 advantage. The Green Spikers maintained their five-point gap to seal the deal, 25-20.
DLSU towered over the Golden Spikers with 14 blocks compared to UST’s four.
Ybañez paced UST with 24 points, while De Vega and Umandal chipped in 15 and 12 markers, respectively.
DLSU’s trio of JM Ronquillo (21 points), Maglinao (19 points) and Noel Kampton (18 points) combined for 58 points to sweep the Golden Spikers in their elimination-round series.
The league has yet to announce the schedule for the Final Four.
