By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses dealt the Ateneo Blue Eagles its fifth loss of the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament after sweeping them in three-straight sets, 25-19, 25-23, 25-14, last March 15, 2023, held at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
After a dominant outing against the University of the East (UE), the Golden Tigresses picked up where they left off and immediately displayed their firepower against the struggling Ateneo spikers.
Despite a slow offensive start for this season’s contenders, UST was quick to ramp up their attacks after Regina Jurado got her spiking rhythm.
The notable rising star was all over the court, finishing every cross-court set thrown at her to finish the match with 15 big points built from 14 successful attacks.
Cassie Carballo, UST’s setter, fed the rolling Jurado from the get-go who was just relentless with her attacks that proved to be the biggest problem for Ateneo.
The veteran setter dished out 16 excellent sets and was also a main key in their floor defense that limited Ateneo’s Faith Nisperos’ production.
UST’s main gunner Eya Laure had an all-around game and contributed 10 points, 12 excellent digs, and six excellent receptions.
Ateneo was close to equalizing the match in the second set but two costly errors and back-to-back hits from Laure and Jurado closed the show to help UST gain a momentum-clinching 2-0 lead.
“We were able to overcome. I think we had no service errors today. It’s a great feeling to come out without many unforced errors,” said UST head coach Kungfu Reyes.
On the other hand, the Blue Eagles got 13 points from Vanie Gandler but were still not enough to lift them out of their ongoing slump in Season 85.
Ateneo’s 1-5 start is also their worst opening campaign in the past 10 years since the Final Four era was introduced in the UAAP.
The Blue Eagles will look to clinch its second win of the tournament when they square off against UP on March 19 while the Golden Tigresses seek to continue their streak tomorrow when they battle UE.
