Jaja Santiago unleashed 26 points to lead the National Universty Lady Bulldogs past the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles in five sets, 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 12-25, 15-7, to sit atop the standings in UAAP Season 80 Women’s Volleyball , Wednesday, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
NU easily got the first set, as the Lady Eagles continued to be haunted by their reception woes, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to toy with their defense with loaded serves. It was evident in the second set where Ateneo had a 15-9 advantage, only to lose the lead and the set,still because of their shaky first balls.
In the first two sets alone, the Lady Bulldogs already had nine service aces.
However, it is not only the Katipunan-based squad that has issues in reception. During the third and fourth set, it was NU’s turn to be bombarded with heavy serves, losing their momentum in the process coming into the deciding set.
Since both teams have shown struggles in their defense, it was a matter of which team would serve hard and show strong defense. Fortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, they were able to recover and quickly pulled away, including the three consecutive aces of Jasmin Nabor to cap off the match in their favor.
It was an all-around effort from NU, with Jasmine Nabor and Risa Sato conniving for 19 points.
Meanwhile, Ponggay Gaston had the opportunity to come up with her career-high 10 points, providing a big help to the leading scorer Jhoanna Maraguinot who had 16 markers.
Ateneo could have had the chance to exact their revenge on the Lady Bulldogs, the only team that beat them in the eliminations last season.
The Lady Eagles have yet to win this season with a 0-2 win-loss record, their worst start under Head Coach Tai Bundit.
Player of the Game: Jasmine Nabor, 29 excellent sets and 11 points
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