Lady Bulldogs break spell, secure playoff

MANILA, Philippines — National U finally got out of the doghouse and picked up a victory again via a 26-24, 26-24, 25-20 disposal of ousted University of the East, securing at least a playoff for the last Final Four berth in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament yesterday at Filoil Flying V Center.

Jaja Santiago topscored with 22 points, spearheading the assault as the Lady Bulldogs grinded it out in each of the three sets en route to snapping a harrowing five-game slump and firming up their hold of fourth spot with a 7-6 slate.

The Lady Bulldogs’ breakthrough victory in the second round, which also effectively closed the door on two of their rivals for the Final Four – University of the Philippines (5-8) and University of Santo Tomas (4-9) – came on the same day as semis-bound La Salle closed in on the twice-to-beat incentive.

The Lady Spikers turned back the Tigresses, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22, to hike their record to 10-2 and gain a playoff for the semis bonus.

Santiago highlighted her heroics with three successive hits that enabled NU to steal the first set after UE took a 24-22 lead and back-to-back attacks that clinched the second off a 24-24 standoff.

Risa Sato, scoreless last game, added 13 while Jasmine Nabor tossed 41 excellent sets.

“It’s good to be back,” Santiago said during NU’s first post-match press conference for winning teams since March 4.

“Masaya kasi unti-unti nakikita ko na bumabalik ang teamwork ng team and yung talagang laro ng bawat isa. Though may kulang pa, nakita ko na ang ganda ng laro namin, kung ano’ng training namin, lumabas talaga (I’m happy to see that little by little, our teamwork is coming back, so does the game of each individual. Although it’s not totally there, I feel we played a good game and we’re able to apply what we planned in training),” said Santiago.

After a hot first round, the NU belles went on a free-fall and slid to fourth, casting doubts on whether they’re still mentally capable to get the job done. 

“Sobrang bigat, yung tipong kada training, iniisip namin, kaya natin ito, pero parang may humihila na wala nang pag-asa yan. Nakikita mo naman sa bawat isa na walang sumusuko, kahit nag-iiyakan na kami sa nangyayari (It’s a heavy burden. Every training, we’re conditioning ourselves that we can do it but each time, something seems to drag us down. What’s good is nobody’s giving up, even if we’re always crying figuring out what’s wrong),” she said.

NU can enter the semis outright by taking care of business against Far Eastern next week. Fifth-running Adamson (5-7) is hoping to catch NU at 7-7 to force a rubbermatch for the remaining semis spot.

“Nakakagaan na na-break na yung five-game losing streak. Sabi ko pagpatuloy pa namin ito hanggang sa FEU (Now that the jinx is gone, we should go for it in our next game),” said Santiago.

The Lady Spikers clawed back from a 19-23 deficit in the opening set then leaned on their experience and poise in nail-biting finishes in the next two frames to complete the W.