Eya Laure and Ypril Tapia connived to end University of Sto. Tomas’ two-game skid in the UAAP Season 84 women's volleyball tournament, taking a four-set triumph over Far Eastern University, 25-23, 23-25, 25-15, 25-12, Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Laure broke out of her slump, dropping 19 points after scoring a season-low eight points in the team’s previous loss against La Salle. She also had 13 excellent digs and 12 excellent receptions to complete a triple-double while Tapia provided 16 points and eight excellent receptions.
“Yung unforced errors namin talaga nung second set, ni-remind na lang namin sa mga players na basic lang yung galaw. Yung second chance points, yung second ball namin especially kapag out of system yun yung nawala sa amin nung second set,” said Golden Tigresses head coach Kungfu Reyes.
“Kinorrect lang namin yung mga pagkukulang namin nung second set. Ngayon, malaking morale-booster para sa mga bata since galing kami sa dalawang sunod na talo,” he added.
Chen Tagaod's attack error gave UST its biggest lead in the fourth set, at 13, 21-8. The Lady Tamaraws could not recover from there as Janine Balcorta put up the finishing touches.
Camille Victoria added 11 points in the win that put the Golden Tigresses at 8-4 – a win away from securing a Final Four berth. Magi Mangulabnan had 16 excellent sets while Bernadette Pepito recorded 14 excellent digs.
On the other hand, the Lady Tamaraws was paced by team captain Shiela Kiseo with 11 points. Jovelyn Fernandez and Tagaod had 10 each as FEU fell to a 1-11 standing.
UST will face University of the East on Tuesday at 10:00 AM while FEU will go up against the top-ranked National University at 12:30 PM. (Dennis Lachica, Sportsmanila Photojournalist)