University of Santo Tomas outplayed Ateneo, 25-11, 25-20, 25-17, for a perfect start in the second round of the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Heady setter Cassie Carballo effectively activated the Tigresses’ hitters with good ball distribution to shoot down the Blue Eagles in their 85-minute Pool F encounter.
UST’s familiarity and chemistry spelled the difference in the match that saw 12 Tigresses contributing points.
“Sobrang laking factor for us ‘yung relationship namin outside the court. Nagsisimula ‘yun sa relationship namin outside the court and nadadala namin ‘yun sa loob. Kanina, naglaro lang kami ng buo,” said Carballo, who had 13 excellent sets and three points.
Angge Poyos was on fire with 17 points, all coming from attacks including the back-to-back hits to finish the game, as UST remained unbeaten after five outings in the tournament backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, GCash, Chery Tiggo, F2 Logistics, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, R and B Milk Tea and Summit Water.
Jonna Perdido added nine points for the Tigresses, Regina Jurado chipped in eight while Marga Altea was the thorn in the side of Ateneo with her imposing presence at the front of the net scoring three of her seven points from kill blocks.
UST turned things around after trailing, 3-6, in the third frame, using a scorching 11–4 run to regain control, 14-10.
The Blue Eagles trimmed their deficit to just two, 14-16, before the Tigresses uncorked a 9-3 run to finish the job with Poyos putting the exclamation point with a sharp crosscourt kill.
UST had trouble shaking off Ateneo in the second set after dominating the opening frame.
The Blue Eagles did a better job keeping pace and even knotted the second set at 20 after scoring back-to-back points.
Altea made up for an overreach infraction she committed that tied the frame with a well-timed kill block following a scolding from head coach Kungfu Reyes during the timeout to put UST back on top, sparking a 5-0 closing run.
AC Miner finished with eight points, Yvana Sulit had six while Lyann De Guzman and Bea Buena had five markers each for Ateneo.
UST will try to draw closer to a quarterfinals twice-to-beat incentive against Far Eastern University on Friday in the competition, which has Smart Sports, PLDT Fibr, Mikasa, Asics, Rebel Sports, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), and SM Tickets as technical partners.
On the other hand, Ateneo aims to rebound against University of the Philippines on Saturday.
SSL games are aired live and on-demand via Puso Pilipinas, SMART Livestream, Solar Sports Channel 70 on Sky Cable and Channel 59 on Cable Link.
