THE UST Golden Spikers kept their finals bid alive after sweeping the top-seeded FEU Tamaraws, 25-23, 25-19, 28-26, in Game 1 of their UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball tournament semifinals at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, May 5.
The win marked the first time UST prevailed over FEU this season. The Golden Spikers also leveled the playing field after quashing FEU’s twice-to-beat advantage.
“Inemphasize ko sa mga players to put some pressure on them na do or die kami sa match na ito. We lose, that’s it, bakasyon na,” UST head coach Odjie Mamon said postgame. “Pero if they want to realize at least their goals, they have to give their all para we get to live another day. “
“Good job naman kasi nasunod ‘yong game plan and execution. Hindi perfect but they tried so I’m very happy.”
In the first set, UST maintained a three-point lead, 22-19, but the Tamaraws tied the game at 23-all after a 4-1 run capped by a Jayjay Javelona kill.
Opposite hitters Sherwin Umandal and Jay Rack de la Noche scored the points UST needed to draw first blood.
With UST up five midway through the second frame, 14-9, the Tamaraws responded with a 6-2 run to cut the lead down to one, 16-15. However, the Golden Spikers pulled away with a 9-4 blitz to take a 2-0 lead.
Despite the Tamaraws scoring more attacks than UST in the second set (12-10), their 10 errors allowed the Golden Spikers to pull off a 25-19 victory.
After an attack error by Umandal that tied the game at 23-all in the third frame, the game reached three more deadlocks until Gboy de Vega and Josh Ybañez scored consecutive kills to complete the sweep, 28-26.
Ybañez and Umandal led UST with 16 and 14 points, respectively. De Vega and Paul Colinares added 10 points each.
Zhydryx Saavedra paced the Tamaraws with 14 markers, while league’s best spiker Martin Bugaoan chipped in 10 markers.
The Golden Spikers will face the Tamaraws in their rubber match scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
