V-League: UST Tigresses climb to second place, maul SSC-R Lady Stags in four sets

The UST Golden Tigresses were able to slip away against the San Sebastian Lady Stags in four sets, 25-16, 20-25, 25-14 and 25-20, Sunday at the FilOil Flying V Arena, in Shakey's V-League Season 11-1st Conference action.

UST moved over the .500 mark at 2-1, while San Sebastian fell to 1-3 in Group B.

UST Coach Odjie Mamon shared after the victory that his team still has a lot of room for improvement; specifically, he wants his players to further master the fundamentals of their skills. In addition, he also wants his other setters to further hone their skills as guest player Dimaculangan is the one patrolling the courts.

But overall, Mamon recognizes the bright spots of his squad. “One thing that’s going good for us is that they’re playing happy.” He says, “Hinahayaan ko lang sila maglaro.”

The opening set started with both squads exchanging block-piercing spikes as the score boiled down to a 9-all deadlock. Gretchel Soltones’ effort around the court paled though to the well-distributed scorers of UST, as the duo of Pamela Lastimosa and EJ Laure commanded the offense with a multitude of cross-court winners. Marivic Meneses chipped in for the Tigresses a series of well-timed blocks that pushed UST ahead, 17-11.

Meneses continued to be a dominant defensive force for the Golden Tigresses as her presence from the front-row led to two straight blocks that positioned the team at set point, 24-16. Rhea Dimaculangan capped the set off with a service ace that trickled off the net and landed smack in the middle of the open zone. UST drew first blood at 25-16.

Despite Laure leading her team to an 8-7 lead by the first technical timeout of the second set, the Lady Stags retaliated immediately with an efficient Soltones working from the service zone. Coupled with Bea Uy and Czarina Berbano’s offense from their aggressive open spikes, the Lady Stags were able to balloon an 18-11 edge.

But the relentlessness of the young Laure gave the Tigresses a brief momentum boost as she contributed from every angle of the court. Her service ace, which was misread by the Lady Stags, forced their coach Roger Gorayeb to call for time as the Tigresses crawled within four at 20-16. The Tigresses were as close as 21-19 after a Lastimosa cross-court winner, before the Lady Stags regained their composure. A Ryzabelle Devanadera attack followed by a Berbano kill secured the second set for San Sebastian at 25-20.

The Lady Stags opened the third set with two straight points from Soltones. The Tigresses however answered back immediately with a 7-0 scoring run that can be attributed heavily to Shannen Palec’s consistency from the service zone. With Meneses defensively anchoring the front-row, UST forced another San Sebastian timeout with a 10-4 advantage.

The Tigresses extended their lead further at 15-4 as the Lady Stags struggled in receiving Dimaculangan’s series of serves. UST went on to finish the set with a double-digit lead at 25-14 care of a well-timed block that was succeeded by a quick attack both by Meneses.

The Tigresses went on to finish the match via the consistency of Laure, Lastimosa and Meneses, despite the Lady Stags getting offense from Berbano. A no-fear spike from Laure that pierced through the blockers sealed the score at 25-20.

EJ Laure once again emerged as the bright spot of the Tigresses as she tallied a game-high of 18 markers. Meneses followed with 15, eight coming from points won in terms of blocks. Lastimosa trailed the leading scorers with 11 and setter Dimaculangan notched eight while dishing out a total of 32 excellent sets.

Berbano and Soltones led the Lady Stags in the losing effort with 13 and 9 points, respectively. The Lady Stags displayed instances where they struggled to produce some offense as seen in the difference in the blocking column.

UST outplayed San Sebastian, 64-49 with a 15-4 advantage in terms of points won. - BR/AMD, GMA News