MANILA, Philippines – The UST Golden Tigresses bounced back from a lopsided loss with a 25-17, 25-23, 25-20 win over the UP Fighting Maroons on Saturday, March 11, at the PhilSports Arena.
UST welcomed back veteran Milena Alessandrini, who missed the team’s straight sets loss against Adamson last Wednesday, March 8. The Fil-Italian scored 10 points on a bum right ankle as she continues to recover from a sprain she sustained against defending champion NU last week.
“It’s a good recovery from our previous loss. We did not see our performance [against Adamson] like that last time,” remarked UST head coach Kungfu Reyes in Filipino.
“We were fortunate that we drew additional motivation for them coming from that upset loss and were able to bounce back,” he added.
Down 4-1 to start the third and final set, UST unleashed 6 straight points to put themselves ahead, 7-4.
The Tigresses remained firmly in control of the closing frame, with reserve Pierre Abellana scoring the game’s decisive point, giving a total of 4 points off the bench.
UST took the commanding 2-0 set lead after they capitalized on a Regina Jurado cross court hit and several errors from the Maroons.
Abellana also ended the set in favor of UST, launching an off-the-block kill against the towering UP defense.
Skipper Eya Laure tallied 14 points on 11 attacks and two blocks as the Tigresses improved to 3-2.
UP was led by Jewel Encarnacion and Stephanie Bustrillo, who both contributed 10 points apiece. The Maroons sank to 1-4.
On the other hand, the UST Golden Spikers claimed their fourth win of the season against the skidding UP Fighting Maroons, 25-22, 25-18, 25-17.
Just up 16-13 in the third set, UST erected a comfortable 9-point cushion, 22-13, after a Gboy De Vega swatted away a shot.
The Maroons then tried to muster a semblance of a comeback by scoring 4 straight to cut the lead to 6, 23-17.
De Vega and Paul Colinares then scored in succession to put the game away for UST, which improved to 4-1.
Josh Ybañez and De Vega connived for a combined 26 points, while Louis Gamban dropped 11 for the now 0-5 Maroons. – Rappler.com
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