University of Santo Tomas overcame a rusty start to clobber University of the East, 27-25, 19-25, 25-14, 25-20, and book a ticket to the finals of the Philippine Superliga Collegiate Grand Slam Tuesday at the Muntinlupa Sports Center.
The troika of Eya Laure, Milena Alessandrini and Tin Francisco were at its best, powering the Tigresses to an impressive win that sent them to the finals against University of the Philippines.
The winner-take-all finals duel is set on Dec. 20 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Rookie sensation Laure uncorked 15 points built on 13 kills, while skipper Francisco had 14 hits for the Tigresses, who inched closer to sweeping the elimination round.
Alessandrini chipped in 13 points on top of 13 digs, while Dimdim Pacres stepped up with seven hits, including the set-clinching kill in the third and fourth sets.
Despite arranging a finals duel with collegiate rival UP, UST coach Kungfu Reyes believes that a lot of work needs to be done.
For one, the Tigresses committed most of their 27 unforced errors in the first two sets that led to a sluggish start.
“Our offensive transition still needs to improve,” said Reyes following their crucial win that was completed in one hour and 54 minutes of play.
“We had a lot of errors that we could have converted. We still have to polish our game,” Reyes added.
Judith Abil shone with 15 points for the Lady Red Warriors, who dropped their second straight game sliding to a 1-3 record.
