MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas turned to the 1-2 punch of Reg Jurado and Angge Poyos to overcome the gritty University of the East, 26-28, 25-22, 25-23, 25-15, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

The Lady Warriors, who had an exodus of players ahead of the season, continued to show a gallant stand, pushing the Tigresses to their limits with the first three sets all ending up with a two-point win.

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Jurado stepped up with 22 points including the clutch hits in each set, while Poyos, last season’s top rookie, backstopped their opposite spiker with 21 points to improve to a 1-1 record bouncing back from a four-set loss to Far Eastern University in last week’s opener.

UST blew a 23-18 in the third set as UE setter Tin Ecalla nailed an ace to cut it down to 23-22. Jurado stopped the bleeding to reach set point, 24-22, but Bea Zamudio cut it down to one anew. Poyos soared and drilled a cross-court hit to give the Tigresses a 2-1 advantage.

Last year’s silver medalist dominated the fourth set with a blazing 10-3 start but UE trimmed it down to one after Khy Cepada’s attack. UST caught fire with the timely hits of rookie Marga Altea to stretch it to a 22-14 lead off Poyos’ two consecutive kills and never looked back.

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UE was on the verge of winning the first set with a 24-20 lead but UST turned to Poyos’ back-to-back kills followed by an attack error of Cepada to tie the frame.

The Lady Warriors regained the set point advantage after Jurado’s service went out but Poyos nailed a kill and an ace to take a 26-25 cushion. Cepada tied the set anew at 26 but Kesha Famulagan committed a crucial service error. Pia Abbu sealed their first-set comeback with a big block.

UE tied the game to one set apiece after Cepada scored two consecutive points for a 24-22 lead. The play was halted mid rally after UST’s Kyla Cordora tweaked her left ankle before Tin Ecalla won the set by blocking Blessing Unekwe.

Cepada lifted the Lady Warriors with 20 points only to drop to a 0-2 record.