MANILA – University of the Philippines Lady Maroons survived a huge challenge from University of the East Lady Warriors for a 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 24-26, 15-11 victory in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball on Wednesday at San Juan Arena.
Marian Buitre had her best game this season with 19 points, on 16 attacks and three blocks, for the Lady Maroons, which cruised to third place in the standings with 6-4 win-loss record.
The Lady Maroons struggled early in the game before coming up with clutch hits to score a 25-23 first set win. The Lady Warriors managed to bounce back in the second frame to equal the set score.
In the third canto, the Lady Maroons have to battle back anew from a slow start to gain a 2-1 set edge but the Lady Warriors forced a fifth set by breaking a 24-all set four score with hits from Meann Mendrez.
In the fifth set, the Lady Maroons jumped to an 8-4 start with shots from Buitre and Justine Dorog, but the Lady Warriors clawed its way back to within 9-10 on back-to-back hits by Mendrez.
The Lady Maroons kept the Lady Warriors at bay as conversions from Diana Carlos gave them a 13-9 advantage. UE rallied to within 11-14 but Carlos ended the match with a smash.
It was the second consecutive heartbreaking defeat for the Lady Warriors after also being beaten by the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws in five sets last Saturday. They fell to 2-8./PN
