By NIKOLE JAVIER
Rookie Angge Poyos spoiled the return of reigning MVP Angel Canino as University of Santo Tomas reaffirmed its mastery over defending champion De La Salle, 22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-15, in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday night, April 27, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In what turned out to be the start of their best-of-three series, the Golden Tigresses drew inspired performance from a newcomer, who for the nth time delivered a talismanic performance that once again rubbed off on her teammates to beat the Taft-based school for the second time this season.
More than that, the win enabled the Golden Tigresses to finish second behind National University, enough to secure the twice-to-beat advantage in the semis where they will meet the Lady Spikers again on Saturday, May 4.
Both NU and UST finished in joint first with similar 12-2 records but the former took the No. 1 seed due to superior set-rate ratio.
The Lady Spikers, who got a game-high 26 points from Shevana Laput, wound up third with an 11-3 mark.
Poyos carried out a team-high 22 points built on 18 attacks, three blocks and one service ace.
Prime Rookie of the Year candidate also wound up with 290 points in the two-round elimination, just two points behind fellow rookie Casiey Dongallo of University of the East in the highest scoring rookie derby.
In the early goings, the return of Canino was like a whiff of fresh air for La Salle supporters as she produced several thunderous spikes as if she did not come from an injury.
Canino checked in for La Salle in the first set and tallied her first point right away after being sidelined for five games due to a right arm injury.
The sophomore wing spiker, though, added seven of her 13 markers in the first set that saw the Lady Spikers take the opening-set lead.
But things started to go awry for the Lady Spikers late in the second set and the Golden Tigresses immediately seized the opportunity to dominate the rest of the way.
NU will face No. 4 seed Far Eastern University in the other semis pair.
