Lady Bulldogs breach volley Final 4, tame Tigresses

MANILA, Philippines - National University held its ground in a tight, tense-filled fourth set duel and pulled off a 25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 25-23 victory over University of Santo Tomas to clinch the last semifinal berth in the UAAP women’s volleyball at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Cai Nepomuceno unloaded 23 points, including the match-clinching kill that carried the Lady Bulldogs to their breakthrough stint in the Final Four of the country’s premier collegiate league.

“We achieved our goal. Let’s see what happens in the Final Four,” said NU coach Francis Vicente in Filipino.

The loss, meanwhile, kept UST out of the semis for the first time.

The Lady Bulldogs will take on defending champion and top seed La Salle in the semis on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The other Final Four pairing pits No. 2 Ateneo and third-ranked Adamson.  

The Lady Spikers and the Lady Eagles need to win just once to arrange a dream title showdown.

Dindin Santiago, the 6-foot-1 sensation who waited for two years to strut her wares for the Lady Bulldogs after playing for one season for the Tigresses, had five blocks for a 21-point output and had five digs, while veteran libero Jen Reyes had 11 digs.

“They all contributed (to this win), especially Jen, who is a hard worker,” said Vicente, who prior to his coaching stint with NU has won multiple titles for UST high school volleyball team.  

On her final game for the Tigresses, Judy Caballejo delivered 15 points and nine digs, while Carmela Tunay added 12 hits and six digs.

The Lady Bulldogs bucked 31 errors as they pounced on the Tigresses’ miscues and poor reception.

NU took a 22-20 lead in the fourth set as Santiago scored a service ace and Mina Aganon blocked Maika Ortiz’s attack.

But the Tigresses rattled off three straight points, two from Santiago’s two errors while Tunay scored on a block for a 23-22 advantage.

Rookie Aiko Urdas and Nepomuceno, however, converted on their drop shots for the Lady Bulldogs before Nepomuceno rammed in a down-the-line kill.