Archers pull off tough wins in volleyball

De La Salle went through the wringer in opening its title-retention bid in two fronts as UAAP Season 67 volleyball started Sunday—nipping Far Eastern University (FEU) in the men’s side and University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the women’s contest on similar 3-2 scores.

The Green Archers struggled against last season’s third placers Tamaraws, 24-26, 26-24,16-25, 25-18, 16-14, to kick off a campaign for another sweep of the crowns being disputed at the UP Human Kinetics gym in Diliman.

But the featured game of the day was in the women’s action, when V-League finalists De La Salle and UST met, with the Lady Archers avenging their loss to the Tigresses in that inter-school, off-season tournament, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-9.

Last season’s men’s runner-up UP played true to form in shutting out fourth-seed Adamson, 25-21, 25-17, 25-17. The other men’s matches saw Ateneo rip UE, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21, and UST blast NU, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23.

The Lady Tamaraws and Lady Bulldogs were vicious on opening day with their 3-0 shutouts of the UE Redskirts (25-17, 25-22, 25-18) and Ateneo Lady Eagles (25-13, 25-13, 25-17).

The other women’s contest went the full route with UP squeezing past Adamson, 16-25, 25-18, 25-16, 6-25, 15-9.