By Ardyn Gonzales
The University of Sto. Tomas Golden Tigresses forced a three-way tie at the fourth spot after defeating the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 16-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-20, in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament, Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
UST suffered an opening set loss with a nine-point deficit before responding with a dominating win of their own in the second frame.
With momentum on the Golden Tigresses’ side, Angge Poyos and Reg Jurado joined forces to carry the Espana-based squad in the third and fourth sets and did let UP get hold of the lead to force an extension.
In the fourth set, UP was able to come within striking distance, 19-21, but UST had their eye on their goal as they pulled off a 4-1 finishing run to clinch a much-needed win.
After getting swept by Adamson in their last match, Poyos bounced back and tallied a season-high performance of 24 points on one ace, three kill blocks, and 20 attacks with only 30 attempts. Jurado and Jonna Perdido contributed with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Nina Ytang and Gelai Gajero led UP with 14 points and 12 points, respectively as they both missed the output of Casiey Donggalo who was injured in their last game against FEU.
This much-needed win by UST put them in a three-way tie at the fourth spot together with UP and Adamson. UST, now at 3-3 in the standings, will need to beat FEU (4-2) to end the first round on a high note, while UP’s game against Adamson will determine who will move down to sixth place.
Featured image courtesy of UAAP
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