UST, La Salle stay in hunt for No. 3 semis slot

MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas remained on course to finish the UAAP Season 87 men’s volleyball tournament as the third seed after sweeping the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in straight sets, 25-17, 25-20, 25-11, Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

The Golden Spikers won their fifth straight game this season as they rose to a 9-4 win-loss record.

The Espana-based squad, in the first game of the day, dominated the also-ran UP squad to win their fifth straight contest.

Josh Ybanez powered UST with 15 points on 12 attacks and three service aces. Popoy Colinares and JJ Macam added 11 apiece.

After grabbing easy wins in the first and second sets, the Golden Spikers zoomed to a 10-point lead, 13-3, after back-to-back service aces by Macam. 

While UP was able to string together points, UST was just too good as Macam, Ybanez and Alche Gupiteo teamed up to secure the victory. 

“Yung preparation namin towards the last games of this tournament, medyo intense talaga. Sa ginawa ng mga bata ngayon, natuwa kaming mga coaches kasi yung mga pinag-practice namin during the Holy Week break, nakita naman namin, even though hindi pa siya ganoon kakinis, pero may improvement pa kami na mapapakita,” UST assistant coach Benjamin Mape told reporters.

Jay Rack de la Noche chipped in 10 points for the Golden Spikers while Trevor Valera had six. Dux Yambao set the offense up with 21 excellent sets. 

Olayemi Raheem was the lone Fighting Maroon in double digits with 10 markers. 

In the second game, La Salle also kept its chances for the third place alive after outlasting Adamson, 25-20, 27-25, 24-26, 25-17.

Noel Kampton erupted with 26 points on 21 attacks, four blocks and a service ace for the Green Spikers. Rui Ventura backstopped with 19 points while Chris Hernandez finished with 11.  

Jude Aguilar and Dan Gutierrez powered Adamson with 17 and 16 points, respectively. 

Green Spikers head coach Jose Roque emphasized the team’s need to work on their mental aspect as the season goes into deep waters.

“Siguro, it’s more of the mental aspect na lang kailangan namin i-work on. The technique and skills ay nandoon, pero it’s just that naghahabol kami ‘eh, kaya hindi namin minsan makita kung paano kami maglaro as a team, ‘yon yung nagiging struggle namin,” he said. 

“We are still on track on finding the right recipe para mapakita kung anong klaseng laro maibibigay ng DLSU.” 

With their wins, the two teams are still tied with identical 9-4 win-loss records with one elimination round game remaining. If both teams finish the season with similar 10-4 slates, UST will keep the third seed after defeating La Salle twice in the eliminations. 

Regardless of their placing, both teams will face uphill battles in the Final Four.

As it stands, the third placer will face the five-peat seeking National University Bulldogs, while the fourth seed will battle the top-seeded Far Eastern University Tamaraws. 

La Salle will face FEU on Saturday, while the Golden Spikers will take on NU on Sunday. Both games will be at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.