UST seeks 3rd win in V-League

University of Santo Tomas tries to add Letran to its growing list of victims as it shoots for its third win in a row at resumption of top-notch volleyball action in the Shakey’s V-League at the Lyceum gym today.

The match, set at 4 p.m. and aired "live" on IBC-13, serves as a tune up for the UST belles for their keenly-awaited Tuesday clash with the San Sebastian College squad, the only other unbeaten team with two victories in the compact six-team field.

The Tigresses, bannered by the power-hitting Mary Jean Balse, smashed De La Salle University, 25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17, in the opener of the event serving as the revival of women’s volleyball last week. They followed up that win with a more impressive victory over Lyceum last Tuesday, 25-20, 25-23, 25-17.

Those wins installed the España-based squad as the team to beat in the six-week long event sponsored by Shakey’s and organized by Sports Vision Management Group, Inc. in their effort to help bring back the glory days of the sport which became the country’s source of pride in the 1987 and 1993 Southeast Asian Games.

But Letran is out to prick UST’s growing bubble although it is coming off a sorry four-set defeat to San Sebastian late Thursday where it failed to sustain a first round brilliance in a 23-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-21 loss.

Aside from Balse, other players to watch for UST are Venus Bernal, Vida Gutierrez, Joyce Pano and Karen Co Yu Kang while Letran will pin its hopes on the likes of Kristine Basco, Genelyn Alemanta, Joana Fernando and Cathlea Villaluz.

La Salle, meanwhile, seeks a second straight win after bowing to UST as it plays winless Lyceum in the 6 p.m. main game. The Lady Pirates dropped their first two games just like the idle Far Eastern U netters and they are expected to bounce back against the Lady Archers.