Golden Spikers stay alive vs Bulldogs

MANILA, Philippines — The University of Santo Tomas Golden Spikers kept their season alive, forcing a do-or-die matchup against the National University Bulldogs, 26-24, 27-25, 19-25, 25-18, in their UAAP Season 87 men’s volleyball matchup Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

NU thus lost its twice-to-beat advantage as the two teams will need just one more win to punch a ticket to the finals.

Josh Ybanez powered the Golden Spikers with 22 points on 19 attacks and three blocks. Jay Rack de la Noche added 15 points while Gboy de Vega had 14.

After failing to finish the match off in three sets, UST jumped to an early lead, going up 14-8.

Back-to-back attacks by Ybanez and de Vega, followed by an Ybanez block on Jade Disquitado, gave the Golden Spikers a nine-point lead, 23-14.

NU, though, tried to storm a comeback, unleashing four straight points capped by an attack error by UST to cut the lead to five, 18-23.

But a down-the-line attack by Ybanez, followed by a de la Noche kill, sealed the deal for the Espana-based squad.

“We live [to fight] another day, pero I don’t want to be desperately playing like that. Parang desperate yung volleyball namin kanina, maganda sana if the players followed the game plan,” UST head coach Odjie Mamon said.

“We could have done better, but I am happy we get to play on Wednesday again.”

Trevor Valera added nine points for UST. Team captain Dux Yambao tossed up 20 excellent sets, to go with a point.

Leo Aringo powered the Bulldogs with 18 markers on 16 attacks and two blocks. Leo Ordiales and Disquitado had 15 and 14 markers, respectively.

The do-or-die match will be on Wednesday at the same venue.