Lady Bulldogs hold off Maroons in V-L opener

MANILA, Philippines - National University battled back from an opening set setback then survived University of the Philippines’ tough stand in the last two frames as it carved out an 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-23 victory at the start of the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Jaja Santiago, taking the lead role following the transfer of former top hitter and sister Dindin to PLDT Home Telpad, unloaded a match-high 21 hits, including 18 kills and two blocks that helped rally the Lady Bulldogs past the surprisingly tough Lady Maroons.

Myla Pablo added 14 markers while Desiree Dadang and setter Ivy Perez combined for seven blocks and finished with 10 and eight points, respectively, and Jorelle Singh and RIzza Mandapat added 10 and nine hits, respectively, for the NU, which struggled in the early going in the face of the Diliman-based squad’s strong start in the mid-season conference of the league where it all started.

After leveling the match at one-set apiece, the Lady Bulldogs needed to put their act together in the next two as they frustrated the Lady Maroons’ repeated comebacks behind Katherine Bersola and Nicole Tiamzon.

The UP duo teamed up for 27 kills but just couldn’t sustain their charge, especially in the last two sets where the Lady Maroons threatened and engaged the much-favored Lady Bulldogs in a fierce battle.

Bersola finished with 17 hits while Tiamzon ended up with 14 points with Arianne Ilustre adding eight markers and Gayle Layug and Caryl Sandoval chipping in six hits apiece.

NU outhit UP, 54-43, and had more blocks, 11-9, but the Lady Maroons’ Jewel Lai produced 29 excellent sets against Perez’ 27. UP also had more digs, 25-20, but just fell short of firepower.

Still, the Lady Maroons showed they could be a force to reckon with in the eight-team tournament sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by long-time supporters Mikasa and Accel.

Meanwhile, the NU-UP duel will be aired today at 1 p.m. over GMA News TV Channel.

 with the Ateneo-PNP clash, being played at presstime, to be shown tomorrow, according to the organizing Sports Vision.