UST rolls to 5th straight win; Ateneo loses newly-recovered Sobe Buena to new injury

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The injury bug continues to pester the hard-luck Ateneo Blue Eagles as they lose rising star Sobe Buena while red-hot UST rolls to a close sweep for its fifth win in a row

MANILA, Philippines – The UST Golden Tigresses kept the fire hot in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament after handing the hobbled Ateneo Blue Eagles a 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 sweep for their fifth straight win at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, March 9.

Since losing their opening-day game to FEU, the roaring Tigresses are now at 5-1 in the season standings, only behind undefeated NU (5-0), while the reeling Blue Eagles fell to a 1-4 slate off back-to-back losses.

Super sophomore Angge Poyos tore up the defenses anew with a game-high 19-point effort off 16 attacks, 2 blocks, and 1 ace, while partner-in-crime Reg Jurado followed up a 22-point bomb against UP with 14 against its Katipunan neighbor.

Pia Abbu, meanwhile, had her best game of the season just as UST needed more players to step up with 13 points off an efficient 8-of-12 attack clip and a game-high 5 blocks.

Starting slow with a 10-4 deficit against underdog Ateneo, the Tigresses eventually woke up from their slumber with a massive 15-4 turnaround in the opener, claiming a 19-14 lead off a trademark Jurado cut shot.

Things only got worse for the Blue Eagles from that point onwards as they — already missing Zel Tsunashima and JLo delos Santos to season-ending injuries — lost Sobe Buena to a non-contact right leg injury at the 21-15 mark, and had to be stretchered off the MOA Arena floor.

Buena was coming off a minor injury that kept her out for the first two games of Season 87 and only enjoyed two full games of action before again going down.

Despite an evident desire to fight given their close 25-23 loss in the second frame and staying just down a point late in the third, 20-19, the Blue Eagles simply ran out of raw firepower as the Poyos-Jurado tandem rained down kills one after another for a pivotal 5-1 runaway and the 23-19 lead.

Captain Lyann de Guzman only mustered a match point-saving hit at 24-21 before Jurado sealed the deal with an emphatic block on Alexia Montoro for win No. 5.

Veteran blocker AC Miner paced the tight defeat with 13 points, followed by 11 from De Guzman, albeit on just a 9-of-40 attack clip.

Buena, who had a season-high 17 in Ateneo’s breakthrough win against UP, only managed 1 point before staying out for the rest of the match. – Rappler.com