The Varsitarian

AS IF CONQUERING Season 70 was not enough, the UST High School volleybelles headed into the 5th Shakey’s V-League tournament, with the same spunk befitting a UAAP champions.

The result? An immaculate 2-0 win-loss record early in the tournament which hinted of another promising off-season build-up for the black-gold-and-white lasses.

“We are really off to a good start,” coach Francis Vicente told the Varsitarian. “But it is still important for us to stay focused at all times because just like us every team out there has the capacity to win.”

True enough, an unsuspecting UST squad almost fell prey to a determined Batasan Hills National High School team, but stood its ground in the homestretch, carving out a hard-earned 25-17, 22-25, 25-23 squeaker last April 15 at The Arena in San Juan.

UST broke away from a tight 22-all standoff in the crucial third set, reaping three quick points, the last courtesy of a Maruja Banaticla kill which sailed across the Batasan girls’ turf unchallenged en route to the España-based lasses’ second straight victory.

Earlier in the game, UST erased an 8-11 deficit to take the first set before Batasan fought back with a morale-boosting second-set humdinger.

Last April 6, the UST lasses debuted with a 25-22, 18-25, 25-14 conquest of the Angeles University Foundation.

Unfazed by a second-set meltdown, Vicente’s wards immediately rubbed pressure on the Pampanga-based spikers in the third set, building a 9-1 lead on the combined efforts of Banaticla, UAAP MVP Alyssa Valdez, and Camille Sales.

Although Angeles University managed to chalk up a few points on the board in one stretch, UST continued its onslaught, summoning a hail of kills from its attackers to rip the game wide-open, 18-8, and eventually secure its first win.

From a 12-12 deadlock in the first canto, the Thomasian volleybelles unleashed a 5-0 blast for a 17-12 edge which carried the reigning UAAP titlists to a one-set advantage over their Angeles University counterparts.

But the AUF lasses refused to surrender just yet, giving UST a dose of its own first-set medicine - tearing a 15-15 wall via a 5-0 salvo to wrest the upperhand, 17-24, and claim the second frame.

Valdez spearheaded UST with 11 points while team captain Loracey Tulabut led the Angeles University girls in a losing cause with 9 points. H.J.D. Brobo