Poyos, Jurado rescue Tigresses
‘It was either sink or swim. At least, we’re still swimming.’

Angge Poyos rises to the occasion to help UST get past Adamson University, 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-8, in their UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball game last Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF UAAP
University of Santo Tomas (UST) refused to go down in defeat, clawing its way back from the brink to halt a three-game losing streak in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament.
Facing a possible fourth straight loss — something it had not experienced in seven years — UST battled through five grueling sets to edge out Adamson University, 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-8, late Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ace wingers Angge Poyos and Reg Jurado spearheaded the crucial comeback, combining for 47 points to deny Adamson rookie-captain Shaina Nitura, who made history with another explosive 36-point performance — her third 30-plus-point game of the season.
A loss would have mirrored UST’s midseason slump in UAAP Season 80, when the squad suffered a five-game skid. This time, however, the Golden Tigresses found a way to fight back.
UST head coach Kungfu Reyes pinpointed inconsistency and shaky fundamentals as the root of the squad’s struggles during the three-game slide.
“My assessment of our losing streak is that we keep falling short at the end. Even when we win a set, we fail to carry that energy into the next,” Reyes said.
Passing, once Golden Tigresses’ strength, had become a glaring weakness.
“Technically, our reception has been erratic. When our passing breaks down, our attacks become unstable. Even our service game has been soft — against La Salle, we didn’t score a single service ace,” he admitted.
With its season in a precarious spot, UST took a hard look at its mistakes and made the necessary adjustments.
The Golden Tigresses knew the implications of another loss, and they responded with determination.
“Our previous losses are behind us; we’ve taken our lessons. But this one, we had to find a way because losing again would have been really tough,” Reyes emphasized.
“It was either sink or swim. At least, we’re still swimming. We won’t go down that easily.”
