UST, FEU remain on top of men’s volleyball

Defending men’s champion University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Far Eastern University (FEU) remained on top of the standings after disposing of their respective rivals at the end of the first round of the 72nd UAAP volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City Wednesday.

The Tigers battled back from an opening set loss to post a 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22 triumph over the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons while the Tamaraws only needed 54 minutes in scoring a 25-16, 25-14, 25-16 win against the Adamson Falcons. John Paul Torres tallied 20 hits and had two blocks as the Tigers ended the first round with a 6-1 slate to join the Tams on top of the eight-team field. Adamson’s loss dropped them to a share of the fifth to sixth spots with the Ateneo Blue Eagles at 2-5 while the Maroons joined the University of the East Red Warriors from third to fourth with a 4-3 mark. On Tuesday, the Red Warriors completed a 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 triumph over the National University Bulldogs. Alvin Vigil scored 12 points while teammate Benchard Pedrano added 11 markers as the Red Warriors nailed the Bulldogs at the bottom of the standings with a 1-5 slate. It was NU’s fourth straight loss and the Bulldogs have not won for a month since beating the Falcons on Dec. 12. La Salle ended a two-game slide after beating Ateneo, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21, in Tuesday’s other match. Chris Macasaet had 17 points while Michael Christopher Antonio, John Kelvin De La Vega and Philip Ellison Cerveza added 13, 12 and 11 more for the Green Archers. In Tuesday’s women’s matches, Ateneo streaked to its third straight win with a straight-set 25-23, 25-21, 25-20 triumph over the UE Lady Warriors while UP posted victory No. 2 after a hard-earned 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12 decision against NU. Angeline Gervacio led the Lady Eagles with her 13 spikes and two service aces as the Katipunan-based squad improved to a 5-2 card at the end of the first round while keeping the Lady Warriors in seventh spot with only a win to boot after seven games. The Lady Maroons, who needed 122 minutes to dispatch the Lady Bulldogs, was led by Angeli Araneta’s 13 spikes and two blocks as UP dealt NU its seventh straight loss. The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the Lady Bulldogs, who posted a 55-50 advantage in hits with Mervic Mangui and Maricar Nepomuceno netting 23 and 22 points each. – GMANews.TV