MANILA, Philippines – EJ and Eya Laure took charge offensively as the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses bucked a third-set meltdown to defeat the San Beda College Lady Red Spikers in the V-League Season 13 Collegiate Conference.
The Laure sisters combined for 35 points in UST's 27-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-18 victory that gave them a share of the lead in Group B on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena.
"Kaya kami andito, para ma-expose din ang players at 'yung learning namin throughout ng liga, tumaas," UST head coach Kungfu Reyes said after the game. "Hindi naman kami nae-aim ng sobrang taas. Ang importante sa amin, kailangan magkaroon ng confidence ng mga bata."
With top spiker Cherry Rondina not playing due to an ankle injury, the Tigresses went to the Laure sisters early and often, and they responded by taking turns in breaking down the San Beda defense.
It was Eya's smart tap that put UST up by one, 25-24, in the back-and-forth opening set that saw the Tigresses squander an early 7-3 lead amidst a series of receiving errors. A service error by Jem Gutierrez knotted the count at 25-all, but EJ came through with an off-the-block kill to put UST at set point.
San Beda then committed a net violation to hand the Set 1 win to UST, and the Tigresses carried the momentum in the second set as they raced to a 16-9 lead and never looked back.
"Maraming mali noong first set… medyo nagiging problema ang first ball namin," Reyes admitted. "Lahat naman kasi, naga-adjust."
The Tigresses looked to be on their way to a straight sets win after they took an 8-3 advantage in Set 3, with Carla Sandoval coming off the bench to score a pair of attack points.
But Janine Marciano, serving as San Beda's guest player after suiting up for Bali Pure in the Open Conference, rallied the Lady Red Spikers back in the game, while UST succumbed to unforced errors that helped SBC's cause.
San Beda took a 16-11 advantage heading into the second technical timeout, thanks to a 13-3 scoring run – with eight of their 13 points coming off UST's errors, including a pair of mishits from the young Eya. The Lady Red Spikers went on to take the Set 3 win, with Eya committing another attack error to give San Beda the final point.
The Lady Red Spikers appeared determined to force a decider as they went toe-to-toe with the Tigresses in the fourth. Neither team could take control until an offspeed hit by Caitlyn Viray put UST up 16-15, and after the second technical timeout, EJ scored back-to-back aces to pad their lead to three, 18-15.
A crosscourt kill from San Beda's Francesca Racraquin temporarily stalled UST's charge, but the Tigresses responded with six straight points to seize the momentum and cruise to victory.
"Outstanding sa laro ang nag-deliver ang guest player namin, 'yung mga bata," said Reyes of the young Eya, who finished with 17 points on 13 attacks and two blocks, as well as setter Magi Mangulabnan, who had 29 excellent sets despite being alternated with Alina Bicar for most of the game.
EJ, the UAAP Season 77 Rookie of the Year, finished with a team-high 18 points. UST registered 47 attack points and had eight blocks to only two for the Lady Red Spikers. The Tigresses also overcame 42 unforced errors.
San Beda, led by Marciano's 18 markers, came away with 12 aces to UST's 10, but committed 32 unforced errors, many of them coming at the worst possible times. Indeed, it was a service error by Racraquin that secured the win for UST after an hour and 48 minutes.
No other player finished in double digits for the Lady Red Spikers, who dropped to 0-2 in Group B after losing their opening game to University of the Philippines last Saturday.
Source : http://news.abs-cbn.com/
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