By: Justine Anne Gaerlan
University of Santo Tomas emerged triumphant over De La Salle Zobel, 25-13, 25-17, 25-20, securing a spot in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 86 High School Girls’ Volleyball Tournament at the Adamson University Gym on Sunday.
After achieving their initial goal, the Junior Tigresses hope to elevate their level of play in the most important phase of the tournament.
“We’re happy na narito kami sa Final Four, kaya lang ‘di pa naman tapos. Mahaba ‘yung liga so preparation namin ‘yan, itong mga ‘to, going into the top four,” UST head coach Kungfu Reyes said.
”Malalaman pa kung stepladder or top four, kahit ano man, magpe-prepare naman ‘yung tropa.”
Adamson, undefeated in 11 matches, can jump straight to the Finals if it completes a double-round sweep of eliminations next weekend.
The Junior Golden Tigresses opened strongly in the final frame, establishing an 11-5 lead credited to a series of three-point bursts and preventing the Junior Lady Spikers from mounting any scoring runs.
UST then scored three consecutive points off a Ysa Chua attack and a kill off a combination play and block from Denise Bron, extending their lead to six, 16-10.
The Junior Golden Tigresses sustained their six-point advantage towards the end of the set, as a Rashel Bajamonde attack sent them to match point.
An attack from Sam Marzan and a block point by Julia Andres and Sabine Valdez managed to save the Junior Lady Spikers two points, but a dropball from Chaitlin Mauricio closed the match in their favor.
With DLSZ’s defeat, defending champion National University Nazareth School also advanced, completing the Final Four cast.
The Junior Golden Tigresses advanced to 7-3, tying the Lady Baby Tamaraws for second place.
The Junior Lady Spikers, meanwhile, slipped to a 3-7 record, landing them in fifth place.
In the boys’ division, FEU-D overcame UST in four sets, 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23, to book its spot in the Final Four.
The Baby Tamaraws secured a 9-3 record and maintained third place, while the Junior Golden Spikers dropped to 7-5 in fourth place.
Meanwhile, Adamson kept its Final Four hopes alive after a 25-11, 25-16, 25-18 victory over also-ran DLSZ.
“Malaking bagay samin ‘to, ‘yung Final Four, so the next naman diyan, ‘yung twice to beat makakalaban namin. Kahit sino naman diyan [sa] twice to beat ready naman kami, handa naman kami kung sino kalabanin namin,” said FEU-D head coach Rjay del Rosario.
After losing a close third set, The Baby Tamaraws were dealt an early 7-4 deficit as they struggled to contain the Junior Golden Spikers’ aggressive attacks.
From there, FEU scored five consecutive points to seize the advantage, 9-7.
A pair of attacks from Luis Miguel and a service ace from Rhodson Du-ot widened the gap to five points, but UST clawed their way back with a 5-1 run to tie the game at 14 after an off-the-block kill from Paolo Medino.
The Baby Tamaraws regained the lead after scoring back-to-back points, keeping the margin within two until the 20-18 mark.
However, the Junior Golden Spikers notched three points in a row, concluding with a service ace from Kalel Legaspi resulting from miscommunication on the Baby Tamaraws’ side to overtake the lead, 21-20.
From there, FEU-D only allowed one more point from UST before the match ended with two successive attacks from Amet Bituin.
The Baby Falcons built a 9-4 advantage to open the third frame until three consecutive attack errors from their side trimmed their lead to two.
Adamson eventually pulled away to increase their lead to six at 18-12, but an off-the-block attack from Mario Roxas and two attack errors from Jims Ducusin and Yuan Samson cut that lead in half, 18-15.
The Baby Falcons embarked on a 5-3 run before CJ Dominguito scored off a combination play to send them to match point. Dwight Tabon then delivered the game-winning attack.
Adamson improved to 6-6 and found themselves in fifth place.
DLSZ, no longer in the running for the Final Four, slid to a 4-8 record to remain in sixth.
