MANILA – National University Lady Bulldogs returned to their winning ways in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball after a 25-21, 27-25, 25-20 sweep of University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons on Saturday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Mhicaela Belen tallied double-double 19 points and 11 excellent receptions to lead the Lady Bulldogs, which snapped its two-game losing skid to move up to 6-3 win-loss slate in the standings.
Ilongga Princess Robles also returned to her usual role after being a service specialist in the Lady Bulldogs’ previous game, making 11 points, while Alyssa Solomon added nine points.
Tied at 25-all in the second set, Ilongga Marianne Sotomil of UP committed a costly servicer error that set up Erin Pangilinan’s clincher for the Lady Bulldogs, blocking Bacolodnon Nikha Cabasac of UP for the extended 27-25 set win.
The Lady Bulldogs then started the third salvo with an 8-3 flurry but could not completely pull away, needing the efforts of Robles and Belen to shrug off the Fighting Maroons and end the match in one hour and 37 minutes.
“Kanina kasi sabi ko sa kanila nung first round four sets kami ng UP so nag-set kami ng goal na kailangan this time straight sets lang kung kaya,” said Robles, who opted to play despite nursing a meniscus injury.
Negrense Alyssa Bertolano led the Fighting Maroons with 12 points and 13 excellent receptions, while middle blockers Nica Celis and Niña Ytang had 11 and 10 points, respectively. They dropped to 1-8.
Meanwhile, Adamson University Lady Bulldogs shrugged off Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles’ challenge in the first and third sets for a 25-23, 25-17, 26-24 straight set triumph.
Kate Santiago and Trisha Tubu spearheaded the offense with 18 and 17 points, respectively, for the Lady Falcons, which remained at second place with 7-2 record, the Blue Eagles dropped to 3-6.
Apart from hanging on to second place in the standings, the victory was also Adamson’s first elimination round head-to-head sweep of the Blue Eagles since 2008-09 (Season 71)./PN
