The UST Golden Tigresses bounced back from their opening round defeat at the Shakey’s Super League preseason tournament with a four set victory over the SOCCSKSARGEN Selection Team, 25-17, 25-18, 28-30, 25-14 on Thursday, July 11 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Rookie Margaret Altea powered the Golden Tigresses’ offense department, racking up 17 points on 11 attacks, five blocks, and a service ace while Kaizah Huyno and Abigail Sinson contributed 13 and 12 markers respectively.

The young España-based squad took early control of the opening set, embarking on a 5-0 run fueled by errors from SOCCSKSARGEN and two attacks from Ashlee Knop that was followed by a service ace from Altea to take a four-point lead, 10-6.

UST further established control in the waning moments of the set with a 7-3 run through both offensive and defensive efforts from Huyno while a service error from SOCCSKSARGEN’s Tresha Parong sealed the set, 25-17.

The Golden Tigresses continued to push through with their offense in the second set with Blessing Unekwe setting the tone for UST’s offense scoring six of her eight points in the set alone.

Huyno scored a clean hit down the line to put the Tigresses at set point while a kill from Unekwe put UST two sets ahead of Team SOCCSKARGEN, 25-18.

An extended third salvo saw SOCCSKSARGEN take an early lead after a number of errors from UST propelled them to a 6-point lead, 12-7 while Franci Yu got the Tigresses back on track, triggering a 5-1 run to tie the set at 16.

Janelle Maignos dictated SOCCSKSARGEN’s offense throughout the set, adding 10 points to her name in the set alone while a 1-2 combination play from setter Shendy Acebo and a net touch violation from UST gave SOCCSKSARGEN the third set, 30-28.

UST held off an early three-point deficit in the fourth set with Sinson sparking a 5-2 run to tie things up at 6-6.

A number of attacking errors from SOCCSKSARGEN gave UST the chance to widen their lead and ultimately finish the game, 25-14 through two attack errors from the opposing team.

Maignos guided Team SOCCSKSARGEN in their offense, tallying 17 points on 13 attacks, one block and three service aces despite the losing effort.

The Golden Tigresses remain in second place of their group with a 1-1 record.

Their progression to the knockout stage will be determined by the showdown between the University of Batangas and the SOCCSKSARGEN Selection Team on Friday, July 12 at the same venue.