By Ardyn Gonzales
Super rookie Shaina Nitura delivered 37 points in another upset win, this time against the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws, 14-25, 29-27, 25-22, 25-22, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament, Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Nitura was just a point away from tying her career-high, but she was nonetheless able to surpass the highest single-season scoring record with a total of 314 points, previously held by Alyssa Valdez who finished with 312 back in Season 77. Nitura and Adamson still have two remaining games before they conclude this season.
After a sluggish opening frame, Adamson never looked back and clinched the hard-earned succeeding sets.
In the second set, the Lady Falcons were already up by three, 23-20, before FEU made a 4-1 run to force a deuce. Adamson and the Lady Tamaraws exchanged errors and blows, but Nitura and the Lady Falcons prevailed after a series of miscues haunted FEU.
With their Final Four position on the line, FEU responded in the third and fourth frames, but the firepower of Nitura was too much for the Lady Tamaraws. Up 21-20 in the fourth, Nitura came up with consecutive unanswered hits, including the match-clinching crosscourt hit.
Frances Mordi and Mayang Nuique supported Nitura’s scoring output, finishing the match with 11 points apiece.
Meanwhile, FEU’s plan of getting closer to a twice-to-beat advantage was spoiled as they suffered a massive upset at the hands of the already-eliminated Adamson squad. Gerz Petallo led FEU with 18 points, while Chenie Tagaod added 12.
Featured image courtesy of UAAP
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