The University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses demolished the San Sebastian Lady Stags in straight sets, 25-22, 25-15,25-17 to nail their fourth straight win in the Shakeys V-League Collegiate Conference at the FilOil Flying V Arena, Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Stags took advantage of UST’s errors in the early parts of the first set as they were able to hold a 16-13 lead in the second technical timeout. Janine Labiano led the offensive charge for the Lady Stags, but the Golden Tigresses were able to catch up thanks to the errors of San Sebastian to tie it all at 20. In the latter part of the set Coach Clint Malazo inserted Grethcel Soltones playing her old outside hitter position instead of Libero, but she played limited minutes for the Lady Stags. Jessey De Leon scored down the line to give UST a little separation at 22-21, and Chloe Cortez and Pam Lastimosa provided the finishing touches that nailed the first set for the España-based squad.
In the second set, the Golden Tigresses went on an attacking spree to blow out the Lady Stags, as Lastimosa, Cortez and De Leon led the charge to completely bury San Sebastian in a two to nothing set score against UST.
Lastimosa and Cortez once again conspired to build an 8-3 lead for UST in the first technical timeout of the third set. The Golden Tigresses never gave the Lady Stags a chance to recover, with EJ Laure, Sarah Verutiao, as well as rookies Christine Francisco and Alexa Rafael contributed to complete the Golden Tigresses domination over the Lady Stags.
After the game UST Golden Tigresses head coach Kungfu Reyes said there are still things to fix in the team.
“I-polish namin ang blocking namin, problema talaga ang first ball at ang depensa sa block kasi minsan hindi sila nag-uusap, kaya ang simpleng gamut doon ay mag-usap pa talaga,” Reyes said.
Reyes also lauded Cortez, who filled the gap for injured Carmela Tunay in the opposite hitter position as she finished with 10 points for UST.
“Si Chloe [Cortez] ready naman, kaunting pitpit pa pero nagdeliver naman siya which is good for the team,” Reyes added.
Lastimosa top scored UST with 14 points, 13 coming from attacks while Laure chipped in 12 points.
Labiano was the lone Lady Stag in double figures with 11 points.
The Golden Tigresses finish with a 4-1 win-loss record after dropping their first game against the UAAP champion, Ateneo Lady Eagles. The Lady Stags, on the other hand, have a 1-4 win-loss card to end their elimination campaign in Group B.
The Scores:
UST (3)– Lastimosa 14, Laure 12, Cortez 10, De Leon 5, Meneses 5, Rafael 3, Francisco 2, Teope 1, Cabanos 0, Dizon 0, Verutiao 0, Rasmo(L), Hachero (L)
SSC-R (0)– Labiano 11, Sta.Rita 5, Lim 5, Villegas 4, Encarnacion 3, Dalisay 3, Sinamban 2, Guillema , Soltones 0, Eroa(L)
