MANILA – National University Lady Bulldogs clinched a seat in UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball Final Four with a 25-5, 25-15, 25-13 sweep of University of the East Lady Warriors on Saturday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Mhicaela Belen led the way with 21 points on 13 attacks, six service aces, and two blocks to go with six excellent receptions as the defending champions Lady Bulldogs improved to 9-3 win-loss slate.
“We’re very happy lang po na na-apply namin yung napag-training-an namin and lalo na po yung sa service which is dapat hindi na kami masyado mag-error,” said the reigning MVP winner Belen.
The Lady Bulldogs needed no time to wax hot as they showed no mercy to the Lady Warriors in the opening set by scoring the first nine points for a whopping 25-5 count in just 19 minutes.
But the Lady Warriors showed some fight in the third set, trailing by just a point, 10-9 before the Lady Bulldogs unleashed nine unanswered points to pull away and finish the game.
Van Bangayan had seven points for the Lady Warriors while Ja Lana made five points and nine excellent receptions. KC Cepada was held to just two points. They remained winless in 12 games.
Meanwhile, Adamson University Lady Falcons made a return trip to Final Four after nine UAAP seasons as they prevailed over also-ran University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 25-20, 27-25, 23-25, 25-15.
Knotted at 23-all in the third frame, Louie Romero committed a costly service error before Stephanie Bustrillo blocked Kate Santiago in the ensuing play as the Fighting Maroons forced a fourth set.
The Lady Falcons, however, charged back big time in the fourth set as they surged to 16-7 advantage to quickly took the fight away from the Fighting Maroons, which only won once in 12 games.
Lucille Almonte topscored with 13 kills and collected 20 digs, and 10 receptions, Trisha Tubu added 11 points, all from attacks, while Lorene Toring also chimed in 11 points including a team-high three blocks as Adamson rises to 9-4./PN
