The UST Golden Tigresses opened their Shakey’s Super League preseason tournament with a grueling five-set loss against the University of Batangas Lady Brahmans, 16-25, 26-28, 25-17, 25-17, 16-18, on Wednesday, July 10 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Leading a team of young Tigresses on offense was fiery rookie Margaret Altea, who tallied 16 points, while Kyla Cordora finished with 14 markers in the losing effort.

The Lady Brahmans held an early lead in the opening set and cruised into an 11-point lead, 18-7, through an 8-2 run sparked by a string of attacking errors from UST.

UB continued to dominate, eventually taking the set, 25-16, through a service error from Cordora.

Attempting to bounce back, UST held the momentum early in the second frame with a three-point advantage, 7-4, courtesy of an attack from Franci Yu and Francine Osis.

Errors continued to plague the Golden Tigresses, allowing the Lady Brahmans to take the lead and secure a set point, 22-24, before a service error from Kylie Macatangay and a block point from UST extended the set.

Combined efforts from Jenelyn Jacob, Lyzel Dela Peña, and Riza Drice helped UB steal the extended second set from the Golden Tigresses, 28-26.

The España-based squad regained composure in the third salvo, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the set before Cordora wrapped it up with two kills, finishing off at 25-17.

Carrying their pace and energy into the fourth, the Golden Tigresses started utilizing their advantage in height, with Altea, Yu, and Cordora, scoring through blocks.

UST continued to glide through the fourth frame, thriving off 11 errors from UB before bringing the match to a deciding set through a finish from Altea and a service error from the Lady Brahmans.

A tight-knit fifth set saw UST reach the top of the hill first through an attack error from Macatangay, who soon made up for her mistake and extended the set with an attack that went off the hands of two blockers and tied the match at 14 apiece.

A receiving error from the Tigresses cost them the set and, ultimately, the match.

Macatangay led the Lady Brahmans in scoring, racking up 21 points in the team’s Shakey's Super League debut.

The Tigresses currently sit with a 0-1 record and are set to face the SOCSARGEN Selection Team on Thursday, July 11, at the same venue.