Lady Falcons sweep Blue Eagles to keep second spot with NU
Games On Wednesday
(Filoil EcoOil Center, San Juan)
9 a.m. — UE vs FEU (men’s)
11 a.m. — UE vs FEU (women’s)
3 p.m. — UST vs ADMU (women’s)
5 p.m. — UST vs ADMU (men’s)
REIGNING champion National University (NU) and surprise contender Adamson University (AdU) whipped their respective counterparts to stay in gridlock behind leader De La Salle University in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Lady Bulldogs clobbered winless University of the East (UE), 25-23, 25-9, 25-12, while the Lady Falcons blanked the skidding Ateneo de Manila University, 25-18, 25-23, 25-19, to maintain a share of second spot with similar 4-1 cards.
De La Salle, last season’s runner-up, is comfortably ahead of the race at 5-0 with two games to go in the first elimination round. University of the East remained winless at 0-5 as Ateneo slumped to its third consecutive loss at 1-4.
The Lady Bulldogs, whose lone loss came against fourth-running University of Santo Tomas or UST (3-2), made sure to stay within striking distance from De La Salle behind a scattered attack led by Alyssa Solomon with 15 points on 14 hits and a block.
All 14 players saw action in NU’s dominant win that needed only 69 minutes with reigning MVP Mhicaela Belan and Erin May Pangilinan churning out 13 and 10 markers, respectively.
“We were able to execute more efficiently in the second and third sets after a slow start, leading to a better outcome for us,” said coach Karl Dimaculangan as NU notched its second straight win.
Adamson would not be left out of the airtight race with a convincing win of its own spearheaded by rookie Trisha Tubu’s 23 points on 22 attacks.
Kate Santiago added 11 points and nine digs while captain Louie Romero plotted the Lady Falcons’ offense with 20 sets and an ace, much to the delight of first-year mentor Jerry Yee.
Earlier, title holder and undefeated NU (5-0) clinched its 23rd straight win dating back to Season 81 after fending off UE (2-3), 22-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22. — John Bryan Ulanday
