Golden Tigresses fall out of twice-to-beat radar, bow to Lady Bulldogs
Rob Andrew Dongiapon
Contrary to their first-round matchup, the UST Golden Tigresses (9–4) yielded to the NU Lady Bulldogs, 16–25, 21–25, 25–17, 14–25, sliding outside of the twice-to-beat edge in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament, in front of a sold-out crowd at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan on April 26.
The loss put UST’s twice-to-beat hopes in serious jeopardy as it would take an NU loss against the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Saturday, and a win versus the UP Fighting Maroons on Sunday for a chance to make it inside the top two.
As the top-two finish was in the balance, the Golden Tigresses never got enough production to their main guns versus the towering forces of the Lady Bulldogs as league-leading scorer Eya Laure only had 17 points, while fellow veteran Imee Hernandez chipped in 14 points.
Aside from Laure and Hernandez, there was no other Golden Tigress that scored in double digits; with Milena Allesandrini only tallying eight markers, and rookie Regina Jurado contributing six.
On the other hand, National U had Alyssa Solomon leading the pack with 17 points, while Bella Belen added 16 to boost the Lady Bulldogs’ chances of the twice-the-beat edge in the final four.
Finding themselves on a 1–0 hole after a lackluster display in the first set, the Tigresses zoomed to a blistering start in the second frame, leaning on blitz attacks from Hernandez and errors from the Lady Bulldogs to build a four-point cushion in the second technical timeout, 16–12.
However, NU went on to a 6–0 blast to snatch the lead and ultimately take a 2–0 set edge, deflating the once-promising drive of UST in the second period, 21–25.
The third set proved to be UST’s best display in the match, unleashing some powerful kills through NU’s formidable net resistance to keep their heads above water and extend the matchup.
It was all Lady Bulldogs since then, though, as the National U opened the fourth set on a 5–0 run before warding off every attempt of the Tigresses to resurge along the way to ice the game up.
The Golden Tigresses aim to bounce back in their last elimination round game against the UP Fighting Maroons on Sunday, at the same venue. The schedule for the final four games are yet to be announced.
