Soriano & Pastrana: The Dynamic Duo That Brought Championship Glory Back to UST

After tasting defeat in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 88 finals—their first loss after a perfect 14-0 elimination round—the UST Growling Tigresses had a choice: fold or fight back. They chose the latter, and Kent Pastrana and Eka Soriano made sure everyone knew it.

From First Loss to Finals Glory

Coach Haydee Ong didn’t panic when Game 1 went south. Instead, she extended practice sessions, drilling her team with laser focus. “All of our mistakes are going to be lessons learned for us so that we will come back stronger,” she told Rappler, with the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly what her team was capable of.

What followed was a masterclass in composure. Soriano and Pastrana orchestrated a dominant response, powering UST past NU in Games 2 and 3 to seal the championship—the Tigresses’ second title in three years. In the title-clinching Game 3, Pastrana exploded for 16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals, while Soriano contributed 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. The partnership was poetry in motion.

Built on Shared Growth, Not Individual Glory

“We wouldn’t have gotten this if we didn’t help everyone,” Soriano emphasized after the win. “I told Kent, we can’t do this alone. We need to bring the whole team.”

For Pastrana, who also claimed Season 88 Finals MVP honors, the victory was never about personal accolades. “My goal is not to win the Finals MVP, my only goal is to win the championship,” she said. The two had vowed redemption after Season 87’s heartbreaking loss to NU, and they delivered it in the most complete way possible—by lifting their entire squad.

The Journey to Dynasty

Pastrana and Soriano’s chemistry didn’t materialize overnight. When Pastrana arrived at UST in Season 85 for her residency year (coming from La Salle where she was Season 82 Rookie of the Year), Soriano was already there, having led the team to bronze that same season as the Season 85 MVP. By Season 86, the vision crystallized into reality: Pastrana took over as leader, and UST snapped NU’s seven-year championship stranglehold.

Season 87 humbled them, but it forged something stronger. Walking into Season 88, they ran the table at 14-0 in the elimination round before stumbling in Game 1 of the finals. But champions respond to adversity, not retreat from it.

A Culture of Daily 1% Growth

“We all help each other to improve individually, not just as a team,” Pastrana explained about the Tigresses’ practice culture. “Every day we can improve even 1%, 2%, even a little bit, as long as there is something. It’s not just us who grow, my teammates grow too.”

Ong called them “heaven-sent”—players who embodied the program’s values of relentless unity and collective growth. Their foundation, she noted, came from UST’s high school pipeline, which had produced talents like Karylle Sierba, the Danganan twins, and others. “The player development program I instilled in UST, that’s the most important,” Ong said.

What Comes Next

With Soriano and Pastrana set to depart, Ong faces the challenge of sustaining UST’s golden era. “The players need to step up to fill the shoes that Kent and Eka left,” she said. “Hopefully, come Season 89, there will be a new Kent Pastrana and a new Eka Soriano who will fill their shoes.”

For now, UST sits atop the women’s basketball world—and it’s largely because two exceptional players chose partnership over glory.