UP delivers Valentine heartache to UST

By: Bong Lozada - 10 years ago

Photo by BONG LOZADA/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines-The University of the Philippines Lady Maroons crushed the hearts of the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses 11-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-18, 15-11, in their second round matchup in the UAAP Women’s Volleyball Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Arena in San Juan.

UP found the right spell in the final two sets after UST straight up put them in bondages in the first and third sets.

Lady Maroon Hannah Mangulabnan, who only entered the game for her serves, nailed two straight aces to put UP up, 14-10.

A slight miscommunication in the UP side gave UST a glimmer of hope, but Nicole Tiamzon dashed all that to seal the Lady Maroons a fifth seed in the tournament with a 5-7 record.

UST meanwhile dropped their third straight game with a 5-8 card and fell to sixth place after a brief stay at the third spot.

UP head coach Gerry Yee said his team plays at its best if they freely go on the court without any pressure put on them.

“They still can’t handle the pressure,” Yee said. “We are better when nobody expects (anything) from us.”

UST looked to control the match early as they put up a 25-11 first-set victory only to fumble in the fourth frame as UP suddenly got Cupid’s accuracy.

A timely tap from Arianne Ilustre gave UP the penultimate set that gave them the momentum going to the fifth set.

Angeli Araneta and Tiamzon led UP with 15 points each while Vina Alinas pitched in 11.

UST Rookie EJ Laure led all scorers with 20, while veterans Carmela Tunay and Pam Lastimosa each had 14.