NU blasts win-less Lady Warriors, earns Final Four slot in UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tourney

Games on Wednesday
(UST Quadricentennial Pavilion)
9 a.m. – UE vs DLSU (Men)
11 a.m. – UE vs DLSU (Women)
3 p.m. – AdU vs UP (Men)
5 p.m. – AdU vs UP (Women)

TITLEHOLDER National University (NU) made short work of cellar-dweller University of the East (UE), 25-19, 25-14, 25-14, and clinched its fifth straight Final Four stint in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball on Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

Peaking at the right time, the three-peat seeking NU Lady Bulldogs notched their third win in a row and improved to 9-3 while staying on track to securing the second twice-to-beat incentive next to unbeaten De La Salle University (12-0).

NU now has a two-game lead over Adamson University and University of Santo Tomas, at joint third with 7-5 slates, in a race for the coveted second seed as all teams await for either a traditional or stepladder Final Four format.

“Hopefully, it does not end just in the top four, hopefully we get to be up there. We want that twice-to-beat advantage and we want to play in the championship games,” said mentor Regine Diego as NU seeks to spoil La Salle’s outright finals in the penultimate playdate on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

NU, despite a first-round loss in four sets, poses the biggest threat on the automatic finals passage bid of La Salle, which also has the win-less UE in its schedule prior.

The Lady Bulldogs, whose last match is against Santo Tomas next Wednesday, made sure to prepare for that by dodging any possible scare from the UE Lady Warriors with the easy win in 84 minutes.

Team captain Vange Alinsug, super rookie Sam Cantada and Arah Panique teamed up with 11 points each while Alexa Nichole Mata and Chams Maaya added eight and six points, respectively.

No player finished in double figures once again for the Lady Warriors (0-12), who absorbed their 26th straight loss since last season.

Skipper Van Bangayan and Khy Cepeda had seven and five points, respectively, for the Lady Warriors entering a tall order against the mighty Lady Spikers this Wednesday at the same venue.

In the men’s division, Leo Ordiales scored 12 points as five-peat champion NU clinched a twice-to-beat incentive with a 25-16, 25-21, 25-15 win against UE (2-10). — John Bryan Ulanday