UST notches first win against gritty Falcons to start Shakey’s Super League campaign
By Charles Nicholas
The UST Golden Tigresses are off to a good start in the 2022 Shakey’s Super League Opening as they survived UAAP rival Adamson Lady Falcons in five sets, 25–20, 27–29, 15–25, 29–27, 15–10, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Saturday evening.
The game between UST and Adamson was initially slated for 6:00 PM but the clash started late around 10:30 PM on Saturday night and ended a little past 1:00 AM on Sunday morning.
It was a nip and tuck battle in the last set as the Golden Tigresses advanced to a three-point advantage against Adamson, 13–10. Eya Laure ended the closing salvo with a back-to-back attack to finish off the Lady Falcons, 15–10.
A sizzling start for both teams as the Golden Tigresses jumped to an early run, 12–7. UST was still in command as rookie outside spikers Xyra Gula and Pierre Abellana and opposite hitter Regina Jurado willed the team to a 16–9 lead against the Lady Falcons. The Tigresses showed dominance all throughout the first set as they took advantage of Adamson’s lacking defense. Gula ended the first set with a powerful spike, 25–20.
Come the second set, Lady Falcon’s strengthened their defense as Aprylle Tagsip clinched a 12–10 lead with a block. UST bounced back by the second technical timeout, 16–13.
The match continued to be a nail-biter between San Marcelino and España as Ayesha Juegos tied the score, 25-all. Adamson finally landed the finishing blow as Trisha Tubu ended the extended second set, 29–27.
With the game tied at one set per team, Kate Santiago and Tubu led Adamson to an early seven-point lead, 10–3. The Tigresses tried to rally but were unable to find answers with Adamson’s solid defense that resulted in an 11-point deficit, 9–20. The rally continued until the end of a lopsided third set with a UST error, 25–15.
In the fourth set where the Falcons had the chance to clinch the game as the momentum was in their favor, they delivered an early four-point lead, 5–1. The Tigresses managed to tie things up as Jonna Perdido tied it up at 7-all.
Adamsonbroke the momentum of the Tigresses with the help of Santiago’s consistent attacks resulting in a 22–22 deadlock. The Espana-based squad missed three crucial set points as they suffered service errors. However, Jurado ended the fourth set with a powerful strike in a gutting 29–27 extension to force a deciding set.
Despite a young UST lineup, they showed maturity as they managed to clinch the deciding fifth set, 15–10, winning their first game of the season.
The Tigresses’ match against the LPU Lady Pirates was called off today due to Super Typhoon “Karding”, the league announced early Sunday morning.
Games for Oct. 1 and 2 will be adjusted to accommodate the canceled quadruple-header today.
