The National University Lady Bulldogs are now the lone unscathed team in the UAAP Season 80 Women’s Volleyball after a grueling five-set win against the defending champions De La Salle University, 26-24, 19-25, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14, Sunday at FilOil Flying-V Arena in San Juan City.
NU and La Salle got into a seesaw battle early in the first set. After establishing a 21-14 lead, the Lady Bulldogs wasted their advantage via their own errors. And before they knew it, the Lady Spikers already tied the game at 23-all thanks to the clutch service aces of Michelle Cobb. A quick attack by Risa Sato gave the lead back to NU, but another error resulted to an extended set. Back-to-back hits from Aiko Urdas and Roselyn Doria saved the Lady Bulldogs from losing the first set.
La Salle bounced back in the next two frames, highlighted by the firepower and energy that May Luna brought inside the court. As the Lady Spikers reached set point in the third set, Cobb once again fired a loaded serve which led to the gift at the net opened by Luna off the misreception of NU.
Now down, 1-2, after an impressive start, it was the Lady Bulldogs’s turn in the fourth set to showcase their prowess in offenseas they bombarded La Salle with attacks in different zones. True enough, NU in fourth set alone tallied 14 attack points and held down the Lady Spikers to just six to force a deciding set.
The three MVPs of La Salle in Kim Dy, Majoy Baron, and Desiree Cheng came alive in the fifth set as the much-experienced La Salle squad cruised to a 12-8 lead.But the odds seemed to be in favor of NU as the Lady Spikers committed crucial errors which led to Jaja Santiago rotatingin the frontline, who instantly made her presence felt to tie the game at 12-all.
Dy stopped the bleeding with an angled hit but it was followed by another error from La Salle. That is when Santiago took over for the Lady Bulldogs and brought her team to two match points. A service ace by Urdas successfully completed the comeback win for NU.
Jaja Santiago led the Lady Bulldogs with 27 points, with the help of Risa Sato and Aiko Urdas with 15 and 10 markers, respectively.
Majoy Baron was the top scorer for the Lady Spikers with 14 points, but it was Dawn Macandili who was consistent all-throughout the match with 37 excellent digs (out of 74) and 16 excellent receptions (out of 40).
Player of the Game: Jaja Santiago, 27 points (20 attacks, 4 blocks, and 3 service aces)
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