The University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses ran away with the win against the De La Salle University Lady Archers, 25-12, 22-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-13, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Reigning Rookie of the Year Angge Poyos led the charge for the España-based squad with 28 points from 24 attacks, three blocks, and a service ace, followed by Reg Jurado with 17 points and Marga Altea with 10 points to claim their second-straight win of the season.

The Golden Tigresses started off hot in the opening salvo as they went up five points ahead of DLSU into the first technical timeout, 8-3.

UST continued to breakaway, courtesy of three consecutive attack errors from Lady Archers’ Shev Laput, Amie Provido, and a positional fault heading into the second technical timeout with UST holding an 11 point lead, 16-5.

The Espana-based squad’s firepower proved to be hard for DLSU to counter, as they continued to force the Lady Archers into committing multiple errors to end the first set, 25-12.

The Golden Tigresses continued to dominate early in the second set, however, the Taft-based squad slowly crept up to tie the game at 19-all.

Both teams continued on exchanging points until a service ace from DLSU’s Mikole Reyes gave the Lady Archers the set point, 22-24. Jurado was then blocked by Provido in a break ball play, 22-25.

UST had a slow start in the third set, giving the Lady Archers a six-point lead going into the technical timeout, 2-8.

The Golden Tigresses tried to fight back, however, DLSU rallied to build a 12-point lead late in the set courtesy of a service error from Poyos, resulting in a 13-25 blowout in favor of the Lady Archers.

Cassie Carballo started the fourth canto aggressively with a one-two play, which was followed by multiple attack points from Jurado, and Pia Abbu to hold a three-point lead early in the set, 8-5.

UST continued to hold their momentum despite the Lady Archers’ fightback, forcing a rubber set with a down-the-line attack from Poyos and a cross-court -kill from Jurado, 25-23.

The Golden Tigresses quickly fell behind DLSU early in the decider, 6-8, but they were also quick to get back on their feet, countering with consecutive attacks from Abbu and Jurado, 8-8.

The tight game continued as both teams exchanged points, until an attack from Altea gave UST a two-point lead late in the set, 13-11.

Laput quickly responded with a drop ball, but Jurado gave the Lady Archers a taste of their own medicine with a drop ball to give the Golden Tigresses the match point, 14-12.

UST’s Bianca Plaza then committed a service error, 14-13, but a double contact from Sofia Rodriguez gave the Golden Tigresses the win, 15-13.

Poyos highlighted how the team remained collected throughout the game as they were behind 1-2 coming into the fourth set.

“Sa game na ‘to talagang pinakita lang talaga namin kung ano kami and kung paano ‘yung composure namin sa loob ng court,” Poyos said.

Despite making a successful comeback, Season 86 Best Setter Cassie Carballo admitted that defeating the Lady Archers was not an easy feat.

“Nahirapan din kami sa [De La Salle University] lalo na sa fifth set kasi hindi rin sila birong kalaban. Pero ayan siguro mas gusto lang talaga naming manalo ng game,” Carballo added.

Season 85 rookie MVP Angel Canino led DLSU with 25 points, followed by Laput with 18 points, and Provido with 10 points in the losing effort.

The Golden Tigresses will face the Adamson University Lady Falcons on Saturday, March 1, in the same venue.