The Varsitarian

HOW DO you survive a war? For veteran coach August Santamaria, there is no way but to jump out of the offensive bunker.

Odd as it may sound, the UST Lady Spikers heeded their mentor’s advice and the result bore fruit once more as they overwhelmed the willful San Sebastian Lady Stags, 20-25, 25-23, 27-29, 25-15, 15-9, after suffering a 1-2 set disadvantage in a winner-take-all Game 3 finals match to cop the 4th Shakey’s V-League second conference title last December 4 at The Arena in San Juan.

”I told them (Lady Spikers) not to hesitate to attack San Sebastian’s defense. When we sensed that there is nothing the opponents can do to stop our attackers, that was it,” Santamaria told the Varsitarian. ”This is the full measure of our strength as a team.”  read more »

THE RACE to 400 books for the quadricentennial of the University continues with the release of this school year’s initial 25 titles in both fiction and non-fiction.

From theology to literature to medicine-related disciplines written in both Filipino and English, the books were launched last September 2 at the World Trade Training Center, where the authors got the first copies.

“We hope to publish 15 more books this coming January in line with the University week,” said John Jack Wigley assistant to the director of the UST Publishing House. “So far, we have been consistent in hitting the 40 books-a-year mark.”

The goal to produce 400 books by 2011 started in 2001 and as of the last count, 265 titles have been released. read more »

IT’S ABOUT time.

For hardly showing the real time, classroom wall clocks at the Faculty of Arts and Letters have been removed and the dean is planning to install a Thomasian version of “Big Ben” that will finally give the exact time.

The clocks’ inconsistencies had brought confusion and hardly anybody could tell whether the professors or students were late for class. Classes have also overlapped because of disagreements over the correct time, adversely affecting the academic operations of the Faculty. read more »

THE SAND remains an unconquered ground for the UST Spikers.

But all was not lost for the Espana-based crew’s Season 70 campaign as the Tiger Spikers managed to hack out a respectable third-place finish in the UAAP Beach Volleyball tournament, despite their female counterparts’ woeful performance.

Tiger Spikers Harby Ilano and Henry Pecaya digged their way to a modest 4-1 win-loss record with their only defeat coming from the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, 22-20, 17-21, 10-15 last October 23 at the UE Caloocan sand courts.

“The men’s performance went well though we were aiming for something higher,” Tiger Spikers assistant coach Odjie Mamon told the Varsitarian.

After escaping by a whisker in the first set, UST squandered a 17-12 advantage, enabling the Warriors to surge ahead with a 5-0 barrage,17- 21, and arrange a winner-take-all third set.  read more »

AGAIN, the numbers have spoken.

Following an arduous first-semester campaign, UST once more is perched comfortably atop the UAAP general championship ladder, capturing four titles and three runner-up finishes along the way for a commanding 154 point-aggregate.

Stalking the “ten-peat” UAAP overall titlists is the University of the Philippines (UP) with 126 points for second place while Far Eastern University (FEU) was a distant third with 117 markers.

Epitomizing UST’s supremacy were the men’s table tennis team and the women’s chess teams who struck gold in their respective events. Also finishing first were the women’s taekwondo and swimming squads.

UST juggernaut read more »

DOMINATION.

Leaving behind the stigma of their Season 69 finals defeat, the UST Lady Booters mauled all opposition to stay unscathed in their 7th Metro Manila Girls Football Association campaign.

The Season 69 bridesmaids carved out an impressive 6.6 percent average winning margin to get to a 4-0-1 win-loss-draw record in the tournament.

Parading their UAAP game-face in imposing fashion, the Lady Booters blanked the Ateneo de Manila, 2-0, last October 14 at the De La Salle-Zobel football field.

Hounded by the Ateneo’s tight first half marking, Lady Booter Mary Ignacio reaped payback in the opening minute of the second half, uncorking a powerful strike to put the Lady Booters on top, 1-0.

A moment later in the 47th minute, Ignacio slotted home a second goal off an assist by Patricia Perlas.  read more »

THE SWASHBUCKLING UST Male Fencers struck a pose in time for the coming UAAP wars, carving a bridesmaid finish in the Interclub Fencing Competition last September 28 at the SM Megamall in Ortigas.

“This is only part of our training in preparation for the coming UAAP season,” coach Bienvenido Orlanes told the Varsitarian.

Despite absorbing a 50-60 loss to Season 69 champion University of the East (UE) Red Skirts, the Male Fencers carried out a show as they struck their way to an early nine-point binge, 15-6.

However, UE fencer Bonifacio Jacintos slashed UST’s lead to only 19-20, altering the complexion of the match in favor of the Red Skirts. From a 43-45 margin halfway into the bout, UE banked on the prolific Jacintos exploits in the 10th round en route to a decisive 44-50 upperhand for the gold.  read more »

WHISKED away from active play after a five-month suspension for alleged game-fixing, International Master Darwin Laylo’s blooming chess career looked headed to the doldrums.

But the 2004 National Open champion hardly sank in career dormancy, underscoring his return with an impressive finish at the Sixth Asian Individual Chess Championship last September 27 to become the Philippines’ seventh Grandmaster (GM).

“It was good karma,” Laylo said in an interview with the Varsitarian. “Winning the championship was a chance to prove myself against my accusers and represent the country at the same time.” read more »

FIRST-BOUT jitters may have spoiled his Olympic debut three years ago.

However, the Athenian tragedy that had befuddled him and his compatriots hardly doused the fire of redemption in Thomasian jin Tshomlee Go as he secured a trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics after placing third in the -49 kilogram division of the World Olympic Taekwondo Qualifying Games last September 28-30 in Manchester, England.

“This is a second-chance opportunity for me,” said Go. “I am going to be a more mature fighter than I was back then, and I think that will make all the difference,” he added.

The 26-year-old Go trounced Egypt’s Tamer Salah Bayoumi via superiority in his sixth and final match to bag the last qualifying slot in the 48-man knockout eliminations. read more »