UP spikers stun UST in UAAP volleyball bash

University of the Philippines pulled off a king-sized upset win Sunday at The Arena in San Juan, stunning defending champion University of Santo Tomas, 25-23, 13-25, 25-23, 20-25, 24-22, in the 73rd UAAP women's volleyball tournament. Entering the match as the underdogs, the Lady Maroons had their best performance of the season, shocking the Tigresses in a match that lasted one hour and 52 minutes. In winning over the Tigresses, the Lady Maroons snapped an eight-game losing skid. They won their opening-game match, but lost a string of games until their big victory over the España-based spikers for a 2-8 record. It was UP's first win over UST since December 2008, after which the Tigresses won their next four matches. UST fell to 7-3, but retained its hold of second spot in the standings. Veteran spiker Carmela Lopez fired 20 points while Angeli Araneta and Joyce Palad added 15 and 11 points, respectively, for UP. Maika Ortiz led UST’s losing cause with 18 points. Aiza Maizo had 17 points while Judy Caballejo added14 markers. Earlier, Ateneo continued its sizzling run by dumping National University, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21. Fille Cainglet scored 18 points while Dzi Gervacio and Kara Acevedo registered 12 and 11 points, respectively, as the Lady Eagles, who streaked to their fifth straight win, improved to 6-4 for solo third spot. NU dropped to 4-6. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV