The UST Golden Spikers wiped out the cellar-dwelling UE Red Warriors in straight sets, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20, to keep their hot streak going in Round 2 of the UAAP Season 87 men’s volleyball tournament on Saturday, April 12, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
UST fired 46 attacks to UE’s 20, strengthening its hold on the third seed.
“We needed to remove the distractions in our game to keep going and recover from our errors,” UST middle blocker Popoy Colinares told The Flame.
The Golden Spikers improved to an 8-4 record, while the Red Warriors remained as league-worst with a 0-12 slate.
UST showed aggression early in the match with middle blocker Trevor Valera slapping down back-to-back quick kills, 7-5.
The Golden Spikers pulled away in the latter part of the set as Jay Rack de la Noche shut down Raquim Aceron to seal a 25-20 set-win.
It was a more dominant start for the España crew in the second frame after rookie spiker JJ Macam launched a kill from the pipe to widen the gap, 13-7.
The Recto squad tried to catch up but Colinares denied Roy Piojo at the top to take a two-set advantage, 25-17.
Both squads traded points in the third frame until reigning MVP Josh Ybañez drilled a down-the-line attack to spark a 4-0 blitz, 11-8.
The Golden Spikers continued to display dominance as Colinares dished up an ace to get to match point. De la Noche put the finishing touches with a down-the-line kill for the win.
Ybañez led UST with 15 attack points, while Colinares and De la Noche added 12 and 11 markers, respectively.
Piojo and Isaiah Roca combined for 15 points to pace UE.
The Golden Spikers will return back to action after the Holy Week break as they face the UP Fighting Maroons on Wednesday, April 23, at the Mall of Asia Arena. F
