NU pounds out five-set win vs UST

Games on Saturday
(Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
1 p.m. – FEU vs Adamson
3:30 p.m. – UST vs NU

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (NU) earned a gritty 15-25, 25-23, 25-17, 13-25, 15-12 win over fierce rival University of Santo Tomas (UST) to move to the brink of a historic four-peat in the 2025 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Preseason Unity Cup over the weekend at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The Lady Bulldogs flaunted their championship pedigree when it mattered most with a 5-0 closeout to erase a 10-12 deficit in the final set for a gutsy win in Game 1 of their best-of-three finals.

Incoming UAAP rookie and former juniors MVP Sam Cantada fired 18 points on 16 hits and two aces to lead the way for NU, which will look to seal its fourth straight SSL title on top of three UAAP titles next Saturday at the same venue.

Adamson and Far Eastern U are also to dispute the bronze medal in a one-game showdown next week.

Ms. Cantada, who just returned to fold from a national team stint in the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, drew solid support from veteran Cham Maaya with 14 points on eight blocks including the game-sealing swat on ace spiker Angge Poyos.

Kaye Bombita and Vange Alinsug added 11 and nine markers, respectively, in the back-and-forth duel that lasted two hours and 39 minutes.

“I just told them we have to focus on the process and not the result. Every time we do that, we tend to forget a lot of steps and we’re always in a hurry kaya nagkaka-problema kami,” said new coach Regine Diego, who took over from Sherwin Meneses.

“Once we tried to focus on everything as steps, sa pasa muna, isa-isa, then it got better in the end.”

It’s the ninth straight win in as many games for the powerhouse Lady Bulldogs, now with a chance to extend a dynasty even with the graduation of its championship core led by multiple MVP winners Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon.

Sans the power duo, it wasn’t a walk in the park with NU needing to dig itself out of a 13-25 humiliation in the fourth set.

Smelling blood in the deciding frame, the Golden Tigresses pounced to a 12-10 cushion off a Regina Jurado hit only for the Lady Bulldogs to prove that they’re the three-time champions for a reason.

Ms. Poyos’ 21 points went down the drain for the 2023 UAAP and SSL runner-up. The efforts of Ms. Jurado (12), Marga Altea (11) and Xyza Gula (10) also proved insufficient for the Golden Tigresses, who now face a must-win duel next weekend to force a rubber match.

Meanwhile, University of the Philippines drubbed Ateneo, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-16, to claim fifth place while St. Benilde swept San Beda, 25-10, 25-20, 25-14, to take seventh. — John Bryan Ulanday