University of Santo Tomas’ most affected position after UAAP season 85 was the middle blocker after both its starters Imee Hernandez and KC Galdones turned professional.
Even one of the first second-stringers to go when one of the starting quickers underperformed in Janna Torres also graduated already – leaving a big hole in the Golden Tigresses’ roster for Season 86.
When UST entered the ongoing season, it fielded four middles in its roster three rookies Em Banagua, Bianca Plaza, and Mae Coronado along with third-year blocker Pia Abbu.
Banagua was the first to have her moment, being a consistent presence in the middle before sustaining a knee injury midway through the elimination round.
Plaza had her share of the spotlight when she buried crucial and timely back-to-back points against Adamson University in the second round that shifted the momentum on the way to UST clinching the first ticket to the Final Four.
Coronado also delivered a sensational performance during the Golden Tigresses’ reverse sweep of Far Eastern University in the first round, showing she can be relied on with eight points in her UAAP debut that came four games into the season.
(C) UAAP Season 86 Media Team
On the final game of the elimination round, Abbu’s time came.
With head coach Kungfu Reyes trying to find the right combination in the first two sets, Abbu worked and played the entire third and fourth as UST secured the twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four after trumping defending champion De La Salle University on Saturday, 22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-15.
Abbu delivered five points including crucial ones in the fourth set as the Golden Tigresses pulled away and denied the Lady Spikers, who had Angel Canino for the first time in six games.
“Thankful ako sa coaches dahil sa tiwala na ibinigay nila sa akin sa pagpasok nila sa akin sa court,” said Abbu, a third-year middle blocker.
“Sabi nga po ng teammates ko, tinrabaho naman namin kung ano yung naipakita namin tonight. Hindi naging madali pero nagbunga naman po,” she continued.
Abbu was a product of UST’s program in high school, bagging the 2nd Best Middle Blocker award in her final year with the Junior Tigresses in Season 82.
Now, UST looks forward to repeating against La Salle in the semifinals after sweeping the latter in their head-to-head in the double round-robin elims.
The Golden Tigresses and the Lady Spikers face again on Sunday, 6 p.m., at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
