Lady Bulldogs bite back

MANILA, Philippines — Vengeful National U regained its winning ways by staving off University of the Philippines, 25-21, 30-32, 25-17, 25-19, at the start of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament second round yesterday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The Lady Bulldogs recovered from a second-set meltdown to bounce back from a stinging five-set defeat to rival and reigning champion La Salle last weekend that snapped their five-game winning streak..

Vange Alinsug and Bella Belen joined hands with 24 and 21 points, respectively, as NU got a stabilizing win for a 6-2 card albeit with a huge scare from UP, which rode the momentum of a breakthrough win over UE to end the first round.

Belen, the former MVP, had three aces and eight digs while Alinsug added 12 receptions in the balanced attack that also featured solid efforts from Minierva Maaya (11), Erin Pangilinan (9) and Alyssa Solomon (7).

“Sa nilaro po ng UP, talagang lumaban sila. Talagang pinakita nila kung ano yung kaya nilang gawin against us.  Sa team po namin, I believe slow start po kami. Parang ‘yung utak ng team, kahit sinabi namin na naka-move on na kami sa pagkatalo sa La Salle, parang slight na hindi pa rin kami naka-move on,” said Belen.

“Sa sobrang kakaisip namin na gusto naming bumawi, hindi kami makagalaw nang maayos.”

Before NU regrouped and took the last two sets, UP snatched a 32-30 win in the second set off a Nica Celis’ thunderous block on Belen’s kill.

UP had a total of 15 blocks, led by Jan Halley Baclay with nine for the most swats in UAAP since Ateneo’s Maddie Madayag had 11 in 2019, in a gallant stand against the powerhouse NU team after a morale-boosting 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17 win over UE to dodge a first-round shutout.

Stephanie Bustrillo (17), Baclay (11) and Celis (10) headlined UP, which tripped to 1-7.

Earlier in the men’s play, three-peat titlist NU (7-1) notched a seventh straight win by clobbering UP (0-8), 25-23, 25-22, 25-16, while Ateneo (4-4) scored a repeat win over Santo Tomas (4-4), 22-25, 26-24, 25-23, 26-28, 15-9.