By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
BOTTOM half teams in Season 80 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) collide today as the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses and University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Fighting Maroons go at it in the 2 p.m. opener of women’s volleyball play at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Currently at sixth and seventh place, respectively, in the eight-team field, both UST and UP are eyeing a victory that could set them to a winning pattern as the first round of the eliminations closes out and have something to build on moving forward.
The Tigresses (2-3) are having it up and down in Season 80 as they grapple with some players out injured, including EJ Laure, who is skipping the entire season because of shoulder injury, and Filipino-Italian rookie Milena Alessandrini (knee).
UST lost in its last game against still-undefeated National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs in four sets, 25-19, 25-14, 25-19 and 28-26, on Feb. 25.
It gave NU a spirited challenge but just could not seize every opportunity given to it in the game.
Sisi Rondina continued to lead the Tigresses with a game-high 25 points, 22 off spikes.
Carla Sandoval had 12 points while Dimdim Pacres added seven for Kungfu Reyes-coached UST.
UP (1-4), meanwhile, is in a far deeper hole as it has lost four straight matches after opening its season campaign with a victory.
The Lady Maroons lost in their “Battle of Katipunan” with the Ateneo Lady Eagles in their last game on Sunday, 25-20, 25-22 and 28-26.
While they brought on the fight against Ateneo, UP still wound up on the raw side of things as the Lady Eagles took advantage of the crevices presented to it and did just enough to edge out their opponents.
Tots Carlos paced UP with 20 points, 17 from attacks, while Isa Molde had 16 markers.
Apart from dropping the match, the Lady Maroons lost middle blocker Jessma Ramos to an apparent foot injury in the game, which could sideline her for a while.
NU LADY BULLDOGS
Meanwhile in the main game at 4 p.m., NU (5-0) tries to extend its undefeated run to date as it battles the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws (3-2).
“There is no room to relax for us. We have to continue to train hard and deliver during games because we will never know what will happen in our coming games. So we have to be ready and prepared,” said NU skipper Jaja Santiago following their win over UST in their previous game.
Santiago incidentally is leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with an average of 22.2 points per game.
FEU, for its part, is out to win its third straight game in Season 80 apart from angling to deal NU its first defeat.
The Lady Tamaraws beat the still-winless University of the East Lady Warriors on Feb. 24 in four sets, 25-20, 25-17, 24-26 and 25-22.
Bernadeth Pons dropped 21 markers for FEU in the win with Celine Domingo adding 19.
Toni Rose Basas and Heather Guino-o each had 12 points for the Lady Tamaraws.
