MANILA – University of Santo Tomas Junior Golden Tigresses wasted no time overpowering Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eaglets, 25-6, 25-14, 25-15, in the UAAP Season 87 Girls’ Volleyball on Monday at the Adamson University Gym in Manila.
Negrense Kimberly Chelmei Rubin spearheaded the Junior Golden Tigresses’ offense with 14 points, including nine service aces and five kills, while Avril Bron backed her up with eight points.
Leading two sets to none, UST’s rookies came out strong in the final frame as they jumped to a commanding 10-point lead courtesy of a 7-0 run behind Marianne Panisales and Jezrel Silvestre.
The lead grew to as high as 12 points, but three consecutive errors allowed DLSZ to close the gap to 10 points at 19-9, but UST leaned on conversions by Silvestre to seal the straight set win.
“Medyo may kaunting nerbyos ‘yung mga ibang bagets, pero at least naka-experience sila ng UAAP. Pero mahaba pa ‘yung liga tapos marami pa kaming dapat ayusin,” said UST head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes.
“Day One pa lang ng UAAP namin, ‘yung laro, so mahaba ‘yung adjustment na puwedeng gawin tsaka ‘yung gelling nila, araw-araw naman ginagawa, especially during training,” he added.
Last season’s fourth-placed Far Eastern University-Diliman Lady Baby Tamaraws launched their girls’ campaign with a dominant 25-11, 25-14, 25-23 sweep of De La Salle-Zobel Junior Lady Spikers.
With the departure of key players in Clarisse Loresco and Love Lopez, the Lady Baby Tamaraws is grappling with a notable gap in their blocking and defense.
“Malaki talagang kawalan, lalo na ngayon sa blockings namin kasi medyo lumiit ‘yung lineup namin compared to last year. ‘Yung last year kasi talagang matatangkad, talagang nakaka-block, kaya more on dine-develop pa namin ‘yung blockings namin,” said new FEU-D head coach Joanne Bunag.
Sheila Pascual led the charge for the Lady Baby Tamaraws with 14 points off of 14 kills, while Aleah Devosora and Raine Alonzo contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively./PN
