UAAP volleyball: Tigers maintain unblemished slate

Three-peat-seeking University of Santo Tomas ripped Adamson University, 25-13, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16, to nail its second straight win in the 72nd UAAP volleyball tournament Wednesday at the Blue Eagle Gym. John Paul Torres scored 15 hits and two blocks while Henry Pecana and Jayson Ramos chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively, as the Tigers extended their winning streak to 20 games overall dating back to Game 3 of the 2007 finals.

After that title-clincher two years ago, the España-based spikers scored an unprecedented 17-game sweep to make it back-to-back last year and then kicked off their 2009 campaign with a 25-8, 25-15, 23-25, 25-16 thrashing of De La Salle last Sunday. But despite the victory, Tigers Coach Emil Lontoc was not satisfied with his players’ performance so far, particularly their lack of killer instinct. “Andun pa rin kasi yung tendency nilang mag-relax. Kasi binugbog nila yung kalaban sa first two sets, ayun, feeling nila e kayang-kaya na nila kaya nagpa-easy-easy na naman nung third set," he said. Ron Jay Galang topscored for the Falcons (1-1) with 12 markers. Also notching a victory was Ateneo de Manila, which needed only 55 minutes in beating National University in straight sets, 25-22, 25-23, 25-20. Andre Joseph Pareja posted 16 hits, three service aces and a block as the Eagles handed the Bulldogs their second consecutive setback and sent them down the standings. Champs Lady Archers score In the distaff side, Stephanie Mercado registered her personal-best 28 hits as defending champion La Salle trounced UST, 25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11, late Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan City. The Lady Archers trailed, 1-7, at the start of the fourth set but bounced back to force a decider through the combined efforts of Mercado and Charleen Cruz. In the deciding fifth set, Mercado, daughter of Asia’s 80s Sprint Queen Lydia de Vega Mercado, broke an 11-11 deadlock with two consecutive spikes before Camille Cerveza hit a drop shot that moved the Lady Archers closer to match point. Mercado then punched in the game-winning kill for the Taft-based volleybelles. "Medyo hirap pa rin, kailangan pa ng maraming adjustments sa laro. Marami pang lapses na kailangan naming i-correct," noted Lady Archers mentor Ramil de Jesus. Crus added a personal-best 21 points while Jacqueline Alarca contributed 11 points in the win which erased all the doubts on La Salle’s capability to retain its crown. Team captain Aiza Maizo paced the Tigresses with 21 hits while promising rookie Maruja Banaticla added 18 points. - GMANews.TV