Maroons halt Patriots, enter S Turf quarters

MANILA, Philippines - University of the Philippines bounced back strong from a sorry opening set defeat as it frustrated La Salle-Dasmariñas, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-22, yesterday to join Ateneo and La Salle in the quarterfinals of the Spikers’ Turf Season 1-Collegaite Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

Wendel Miguel fired 19 hits, including 17 on kills while skipper Alfred Gerard Valbuena and Julius Evan Raymundo scattered 15 and 11 markers, respectively, to power the Maroons to their third win in four outings in Group B.

Foiled by the Patriots in a closely fought first set, the Maroons went to Miguel, Valbuena and Raymundo to dominate the next two frames then pulled through in another tight finish to complete the one-hour, 31-minute victory.

“We were a little sluggish in the first set but we made the necessary adjustments to get this win,” said UP coach Melchor Santos.

UP thus joined reigning UAAP titlist Ateneo, unbeaten in three games, and La Salle (3-1) as the Group B quarterfinalists in the league presented by PLDT Home Ultera.

NCAA champion Emilio Aguinaldo (4-0) and National University (3-0) took the first two quarters spots in Group A of the two-division tournament backed by Mikasa.

Eddimar Kasim uncoiled a 20-hit game for the Patriots, who also drew 11 points from Aldin Bin but only got a combined 14-point output from Aidam Adam, Wilbert Sapida, Paul Castro and Daniel Benitez.

The power-hitting Kasim put in the bulk of his hits in the first set when La Salle-Dasma stole the set from a slow-starting UP but failed to sustain his form in the face of the Maroons’ strong comeback in the next three sets.

La Salle-Dasma fell to 0-4.

Meanwhile, the UE-Mapua match last Monday will be shown starting at 3:30 p.m. on PTV 4. Games are aired on a delayed basis from Monday to Friday while Saturday telecast begins at 9:15 p.m., according to the organizing Sports Vision. – Joey Villar