THE UST Golden Spikers toppled the twice-to-beat NU Bulldogs in four grueling sets, 26-24, 27-25, 19-25, 25-18, to extend the UAAP Season 87 men’s volleyball semifinals on Saturday, May 3, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
In an uphill battle, the Golden Spikers also snapped their four-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.
“This is a good pressure for us because [NU] will be stronger and luckily we were able to beat them,” UST open hitter Gboy De Vega told The Flame after returning to the starting lineup for the first time since Round 1.
“[O]ur confidence and morale is higher now,” he added.
NU started the match with a fiery blitz after last season’s Rookie of the Year Jade Disquitado roofed Jay Rack de la Noche for a 9-5 lead.
The Golden Spikers quickly responded with rookie opposite hitter Al-Bukharie Sali coming off the bench to spark three straight points and steal the extended opening set, 26-24.
Both squads saw a tighter second frame as Sali re-entered the match for a down-the-line kill that put the Golden Spikers at set-point, 24-23.
Tied at 25-all, reigning MVP Josh Ybañez slapped down back-to-back kills to give UST a 2-0 set advantage, 27-25.
The Jhocson-based crew fired up an 7-1 barrage to kick off the third frame behind back-to-back blocks from middle blocker Peng Taguibolos.
Leading throughout the set, opposite hitter Leo Ordiales drilled a crosscourt spike to keep NU alive, 25-19.
The España squad built an early 5-1 edge in the fourth set as team captain Dux Yambao dished up an ace. Moments later, Ybañez denied ace spiker Jade Disquitado to go ahead by nine, 23-14.
NU tried to put up a fight late in the set to exploit the errors of UST until Ybañez and De la Noche split kills to extend the series.
Ybañez led the scoring for UST with 19 kills and three blocks, while De la Noche contributed 15 markers. De Vega added 14.
Aringo paced NU in the loss with 18 points. Ordiales and Disquitado added 15 and 14 markers, respectively.
The Golden Spikers will try to repeat their Season 86 semifinals run as they face the Bulldogs in a win-or-go home match on Wednesday, May 7. F
