UAAP volleyball: UST exploits skidding NU, keeps Final Four hopes alive
Cherry Rondina. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
University of Santo Tomas continued its hunt for a Final Four spot after pouncing on struggling National University, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-9, Sunday in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament.
After recovering from a slow start, Sisi Rondina and the Tigresses simply took the air out of Jaja Santiago and the Bulldogs in the fourth set and completed the revenge of their first round loss.
READ: Past haunting Lady Bulldogs, says coach
The Golden Tigresses have won two straight, their first time to win consecutive games this season, to improve to 4-7 and maintain their hold of the sixth place.
Despite the four straight setbacks, the Lady Bulldogs are still at the fourth spot at 6-5 but are now just half-a-game ahead of fifth-seed Adamson that holds a 5-5 card.
UST took advantage of Santiago’s absence early in the fourth set and went on a 15-3 run to carve a 19-7 lead.
And in the middle of the run was the scoring partnership of Rondina and Alessandrini whom the Lady Bulldogs had no answer to.
Rondina first scored on a crosscourt kill for UST’s 10-5 lead and the Tigresses never let up their assault especially with the return of Santiago in the rotation.
Alessandrini scored on her own crosscourt kill for the 17-7 lead before scoring once more, this time on a soft off-the-block kill to make it a 12-point margin.
“The respect we have for ourselves is back, this time the results are getting better and all this hard work is finally paying off,” said UST head coach Kung Fu Reyes. “We can’t go back to the past so we will strive harder in our next three games. These players know they’re capable of getting back on track.”
Rondina, who put up 25 points, scored on an off-the-block kill for UST’s 23-9 lead before Alessandrini blocked Santiago for the 24-9 match point.
Alessandrini was everywhere for UST with 19 points that came off 11 spikes, five blocks, and three aces.
Santiago finished with a game-high 27 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs, who have yet to win in the second round.
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