The UST Tiger Spikers drew first blood in the V-League Collegiate Challenge semi-finals after recovering from a first set loss and turning back the FEU Tamaraw Spikers , 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 in Paco Arena on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

UST’s outside hitter, Gboy De Vega exhibited a galvanizing performance, pouring 18 points off four blocks which helped carry the load together with Josh Ybanez who scored 21 points.

The momentum was in the Tamaraw’s favor early as they highlighted their strong net defense, taking advantage of the Tiger Spikers’ five costly errors during the opening salvo.

UST tried to come back late in the first set with a 10-6 run but the Tamaraws answered right away with two straight points credited to FEU’s Jerold Talisayan’s rejection to claim the opening set, 21-25.

The Tiger Spikers turned back the tides in the second set as they took the momentum early, leading by as much as three points on numerous occasions..

The Tiger Spikers continued to roar in the second set, ramping up their attacks with a total of 15 kills in the set to knot it up, 25-21.

After a see-saw battle at the start of the third set, UST once again gained the upper hand with a four-point advantage, 13-9 courtesy of Ybanez and De Vega’s attacks.

The momentum then shifted to the Tamaraws, tying it 17-17 after a masterful 8-4 run. UST’s coach then responded with a timeout stating, “wag kayong magmadali, kailangan pag umatake tayo may coverage” referring to the Tiger Spiker’s lack of composure during the run.

The UST Tiger Spikers recovered late in the third set and eked out of the Tamaraw’s solid floor defense with Umandal’s hammering smash with the assistance of EG Colinares’ setup job to take a 2-1 lead in the set score.

FEU showed resurgence late in the final set and managed to tie the score up at 22, but hope diminished for the Tamaraws as Josh Ybanez responded with a spike down the middle followed by a service ace from Ichi Yamanaka and a block from Paul Colinares to glaze off the set, 25-22.

The Tiger Spikers will try to finish the series early and prevent a third game in the series on Friday, Septembers 22 at 2 p.m., in the same venue.—reports from Anton Villegas