INQUIRER Sports

When the Tigresses of University of Santo Tomas are all business in the Shakey’s V-League, they are a frisky, elusive prey to catch.

With six straight wins, UST is lording it over the field, with Far Eastern University and San Sebastian College trying to stay close and deny the Tigresses a fifth league crown.

Coach Shaq de los Santos is carrying on ably from where August Santamaria left off. UST has continued to find those tall, lean and talented teeners bubbling with high school enthusiasm and to turn them into crafty, hard-hitting scorers.

The return of Angeli Tabaquero has given the Tigresses an offensive weapon with the absence of Ging Balce and Venus Bernal, UST’s long-time knockout punchers at the net. Tabaquero has matured nicely over the years, recognizing her value to the team and what she needs to do with scoring chances.

FEU is playing its usual efficient game, although it is paying a tad for going long stretches without ace open hitter Rachel Ann Daquis.

Coach Nes Pamiliar is clearly looking forward to the upcoming UAAP season without Daquis, a reality since the comely spiker has played out her eligibility. The emergence of Cherry Vivas is a welcome development for the FEU faithful because they now have a reliable scorer in the quarterfinals.

San Sebastian is still playing at its NCAA championship form but coach Roger Gorayeb still senses a lack of consistency in his unit. Joy Benito, Margarita Pepito and guest player Jinni Mondejar are very much around for firepower and should provide the biggest headaches for SSC rivals down the road.

Adamson will have to kick up its game a notch in the quarterfinals. Dulce Pante’s wards lost a close four-setter to San Sebastian last Tuesday and the Lady Falcons need to steal games from the frontrunners to improve their chances.

It should be an uphill climb for Ateneo de Manila University and College of St. Benilde. Both squads scored wins against also-rans Lyceum and UP but also need to rock the tournament with a few upsets if they want to go far.

The Lady Blazers are a decent squad that lacks on-court urgency and fire. Against the UAAP elite teams and NCAA rival San Sebastian, St. Benilde has to have the desire to go toe to toe with them. The Lady Blazers have an excellent coach in veteran internationalist Thelma Barina-Rojas and volleyball insiders are hopeful that their coach’s stout fighting heart would rub off on the players.

So who’s going to catch the Tigresses’ tails? The team that spots them napping just a bit after a hefty meal of quick spikes and open hits could have that window of opportunity. It will take some wily hunting by pursuers to be able to catch that moment.