THE MISERY continued for the UST Golden Tigresses as they saw their title bid come to an end after bowing to the NU Lady Bulldogs in five thrilling sets, 25-22, 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 10-15, in Game 2 of the Shakey’s Super League Pre-Season Unity Cup on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
UST entered the match without ace spiker Angge Poyos, mirroring the same situation it faced in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 86 Finals, where she was also unable to suit up due to an ankle injury.
Playing without Poyos, the outside hitters duo of Julia Balingit and Xyza Gula stepped up, combining for 29 points in a losing effort.
“We fell short today, but at least now we know what’s missing and what we still need to work on as a team,” Gula told The Flame.
The opening frame was a back-and-forth battle as the Tigresses edged early after a Balingit hit to take the first technical timeout, 8-5.
NU tried to mount a comeback with opposite hitter Kay Bombita scoring off a down-the-line kill, trimming the deficit to three, 22-19.
But UST stayed on track as Balingit closed out the set, 25-22, to give the opening frame to UST.
In the second set, both teams traded points until NU’s Bombita and Sam Cantada turned UST errors into fast points, putting the Jhocson squad ahead, 19-16.
The España squad fought back but NU held their composure, closing the second set off a Vange Alinsug ace, 22-25, tying the game at 1-set apiece.
It was a different script in the third as UST found its rhythm in the latter stretch with opposite spiker Reg Jurado scoring three consecutive hits to hand UST a two-point advantage, 21-19.
Both teams refused to pull away as they had a deuce twice, but UST clinched the set after forcing Cantada to commit an error, 27-25.
The fourth salvo once again saw a tight game as the Tigresses tried to clawback from a 16-13 disadvantage midway, with Altea getting her groove at the net after a huge rejection on Cantada, 16-all.
NU closed out the frame with an off-the-block kill from Bombita to force a decisive fifth set, 25-23.
The defending champions set their eyes on the prize, taking control in the do-or-die set to defend NU’s crown.
Three Tigresses received individual honors. Reg Jurado earned the Best Opposite Hitter award, while Xyza Gula and Marga Altea took the 2nd Best Outside Spiker and the 2nd Best Middle Blocker awards, respectively. F
