UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas secured its fourth consecutive Final Four stint with a 22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-20 victory over Adamson in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament last night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Sensational rookie Angge Poyos came through with a season-high 31 points, six digs and five receptions as the Tigresses raised their league-best record of 9-1.

Earlier, Bella Belen produced another scintillating all-around game as National University followed up its stunning win over UST with a 25-14, 25-14, 25-12 rout of University of the East.

The masterful straight-set victory, the eighth overall in 10 matches, pushed the Lady Bulldogs on the brink of a third consecutive Final Four appearance.

Poyos’ scoring output was the highest by a Tigress since Eya Laure dropped a career-high 31 points in UST’s 25-19, 25-21, 29-31, 33-31 over Ateneo on May 19, 2022.

“Thankful kasi comeback game nga for us kasi natalo kami last game against NU. Thankful kasi nakapag-contribute pa rin ako sa game. Thankful din ako sa mga ates ko kasi patuloy silang kumakapit at lumalaban para sa team,” said Poyos.

Despite the departure of Laure, Imee Hernandez and Milena Alessandrini and having a young roster, the Tigresses are back in the Final Four.

“Yung hardwork ng mga bata, hindi matatawaran,” said UST coach Kungfu Reyes. “Well prepared naman yung team, may kasamang swerte at nakuha namin yung dati naming inaasam na at least mapasama kami sa Final Four. Ngayon nandito na.”

Jonna Perdido and Regina Jurado each had 12 points while Bianca Plaza, filling in for Em Banagua, had a perfect 6-of-6 attacks to finish with seven points for the Tigresses.

Barbie Jamili had 20 points and 13 receptions for the Lady Falcons, who dropped to 2-7.

Belen, who had a 13 points, including four blocks, 10 receptions, and 10 digs, has been doing all the things to keep NU as one of the top teams this season.

“Hindi lang po yung atake ang laging iniisip ko, iniisip ko kung ano pa yung kaya kong i-contribute sa team. As long as kaya ko pong gawin yung task like sa receive at dig, ibibigay ko yung effort ko,” said Bella, the Season 84 Rookie-MVP.

The Lady Bulldogs were successful in limiting the Lady Warriors’ super rookie Casiey Dongallo, who had a season-low six points, and failed to give their foes a single block and service ace.

“Very happy kasi nakita namin kung ano yung pinagtrabahuhan namin nung mga training lalo na nung Holy Week na imbis na umuwi or mag spend time sa family namin, mas pinili namin magtraining at i-polish pa yung galaw namin,” said Alyssa Solomon, who took the scoring mantle for NU with 14 points on 12-of-22 spikes and collected five digs.

Camilla Lamina was solid in distributing the Lady Bulldogs’ plays with 13 excellent sets.

Riza Nogales also had six kills for the Lady Warriors, who went down to their seventh defeat against two victories to remain level with the Lady Falcons in sixth spot.

Meanwhile, men’s titleholder NU rebounded big time at the expense of UE, 25-13, 25-17, 25-22, while UST overcame some anxious moments to beat Adamson, 25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23.

The Bulldogs rebounded from a tough five-set loss to the Golden Spikers to chalk up their eighth win in 10 matches.

Making his season debut after missing the first nine matches due to a fractured right hand, Season 85 2nd Best Outside Spiker Mike Buddin had 3-of-7 spikers and six receptions as a second and third set substitute for the Bulldogs.

“Welcome back to Buddin, sabi ko naman after nung game namin sa UST unti-unti ko na siyang ibabalik. Sana magtuloy tuloy lang yung sa ginagawa niyang sakripisyo,” said long-time NU coach Dante Alinsunurin.

Jade Disquitado delivered a game-high 16 points on 13-of-24 kills while Aringo chipped in 15 points on an efficient 12-of-18 clip in spikes for the Bulldogs.

Reigning MVP Josh Ybañez came through with 25 points, 27 receptions and 12 digs as the Golden Spikers remained in the top four range at 5-4.