By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The University of Santo Tomas (UST) Junior Golden Tigresses wasted no time overpowering the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eaglets, 25-6, 25-14, 25-15, in the UAAP Season 87 girls’ volleyball tournament at the Adamson University Gym in Manila on Monday, September 16.
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 Ateneo 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,” UST head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes said.
“Day 1 pa lang ng UAAP namin, ‘yung laro, so mahaba ‘yung adjustment na pwedeng gawin ‘tsaka ‘yung gelling nila, araw-araw naman ginagawa, especially during training,” he added.
Last season’s fourth-placed Far Eastern University-Diliman (FEU-D) Lady Baby Tamaraws launched their girls’ campaign with a dominant 25-11, 25-14, 25-23 sweep of the De La Salle-Zobel Junior Lady Spikers.
With the departure of key players in Clarisse Loresco and Love Lopez, the Lady Baby Tamaraws are 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,” new FEU-D head coach Joanne Bunag said.
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./ASC, WDJ