UST SWEEPS LA SALLE AND UP, GRABS SOLO FIRST PLACE IN UAAP BEACH VOLLEY
By Ardyn Gonzales
2 October 2016
UST Lady Tigresses Cherry Rondina and Jem Gutierrez displayed their deadly form to stay unbeaten sweeping both La Salle and UP in Day 2 of the UAAP Season 79 Beach Volleyball Tournament at MOA Sands by the Bay in Pasay City.
UST first denied La Salle’s Desiree Cheng and Tin Tiamzon’s chance to bounce back after a big loss against UP yesterday, winning the game in straight sets, 21-15, 21-16.
Then the Espana-based squad handed Arielle Estrañero and Diana Carlos their first loss of the season with a 21-17, 21-14 victory against the Lady Maroons.
The early part of the first set was tight with UP and UST exchanging well-placed attacks to tie the game at 6-all. But the off-the-block hit of Gutierrez started a 7-2 run giving the lead to UST, 13-8.
Carlos tried to outsmart UST with series of 1-2 plays to pull within 18-17 but Rondina answered back and scored three consecutive points to give the first set in favor of the Lady Tigresses.
The Lady Maroons started the second frame with four attack errors and continued to lose momentum after being down 6-0. UP once again attempted to keep up with UST but the strong attacks of Rondina and Gutierrez were just too much to handle for the Lady Maroons.
The Lady Tigresses now grab solo first place in the standings with a 4-0 record.
Whether UST will sweep the elimination round and will book an early ticket to the Finals is yet to be unravelled as they still have to go up against NU and AdU on October 3 and FEU on October 7, still at MOA Sands by the Bay.
Meanwhile in the men’s division, UST Tiger Spikers also swept La Salle and UP 21-13, 21-12 and 21-13, 21-14 respectively to stay undefeated and sit atop the standings together with FEU.
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