MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATED) Ateneo de Manila University grabbed a crucial victory on Tuesday, sweeping the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to boost their bid for a Final 4 spot in the UAAP Season 84 women's volleyball tournament.

The Blue Eagles showed great poise in crunch time situations and seized an impressive 25-20, 25-20, 25-20 against the Golden Tigresses at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The defending champions improved to 5-5 in the season, while also snapping UST's four-match winning streak. Ateneo also got back at the Tigresses, who had beaten them in four sets when they played in the first round.

It marked the first time in Season 84 that Ateneo had beaten a team in the upper half of the league standings. The loss dropped the Golden Tigresses to 7-3 in the tournament.

"Sabi nga namin sa isa't isa, we have to take this win home," Ateneo coach Oliver Almadro said after their win. "We're not looking at it na kailangan straight sets. We're just doing our job. We prepared for this and nag-manifest naman sa kilos ng mga bata."

Ateneo star Faith Nisperos bounced back from a subpar outing in their previous game against National University to put up 18 points on 15 kills and two aces, while Vanie Gandler continued her streak of solid games with 12 points. Joan Narit had her best game of the season so far, with 11 points including two kill blocks.

Ateneo outplayed UST down the stretch of each set, with Nisperos and Gandler anchoring a 4-1 closing run in the first frame after the Tigresses came within two points, 19-21.

In Set 2, the Tigresses clawed their way back from a five-point deficit to get within one point, 21-20, off a hit by Ypril Tapia. But Ateneo won the last four rallies, with Nisperos scoring back-to-back kills to push the Blue Eagles to a 2-0 lead.

Playing with their backs against the wall, UST forced an 18-all deadlock in Set 3 only to give up five unanswered points to the Blue Eagles. Rookie middle blocker AC Miner highlighted the run with a block on Laure, and Nisperos again scored the final two points for Ateneo, sealing the win in an hour and 43 minutes.

UST lost in straight sets for the first time in Season 84. Laure was the lone player in double-digits, as she had 14 points -- tied for her season-low. The Tigresses' next best scorers were Tapia and Ysa Jimenez, with five points each.