Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

AdU

Bulldogs send Soaring Falcons into three-game tailspin


In a rematch of their classic Final Four encounter last season, the National University Bulldogs kept the Adamson University Soaring Falcons grasping for their first win of UAAP Season 79, eking out a tight 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 28-26 victory at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

As they had in their their first two matches, the Soaring Falcons used their veteran savvy and stingy floor defense to stay within range of the Bulldogs. But the Sampaloc-based spikers, in the end, had too much firepower.

After splitting the first two sets, the Bulldogs found their edge in a hotly-contested third frame thanks to clutch serves from Bryan Bagunas and conversions from skipper Francis Saura. Ahead 2-1, NU had to stave off Adamson’s signature comeback in the fourth set. After going point-for-point all the way to a deuce, the Bulldogs pulled the win away with a block from Kim Malabunga to reach match point, 27-26, followed by clutch dig to a Bagunas smash to punctuate the win.

National University head coach Dante Alinsunurin was pleased with how his wards had finally showed their maturity against an Adamson squad that has always given them problems.

“Makikita mo talaga sa Adamson. Iba ang samahan nang mga ‘yan. ‘Yun din ang gusto kong maipakita nang mga players ko. Kanina maraming times na nahahabol kami pero kumapit kami. Hopefully, ganito ang ipakita namin palagi,” said Alinsunurin.

The league’s leading scorer through three matches, Bryan Bagunas paced the Bulldogs with 22 points off 17 attacks and five aces. Spikers’ Turf MVP Fauzi Ismail tallied 20 points.

#ReadMore  Lozano zones in, overcomes nerves in first Finals game

The Bulldogs (2-1) next face the struggling De La Salle University Green Spikers (0-2) next Sunday at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

“Kahit naman wala pang panalo sila [La Salle], hindi kami pwedeng mag-relax. Kailangan tuloy-tuloy lang kami,” added Alinsunurin.

Soaring Falcons open hitter Mike Sudaria and Jerome Sarmiento led the charge with 16 and 14 points, respectively. The Falcons slid to 0-3, their worst start in nearly a decade.

Adamson will try to rebound against defending champions Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles (2-0) on Saturday, also at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

The Scores

NU (3) – Bagunas 22, Ismail 20, Saura 12, Malabunga 11, Natividad 6, Ancheta 3, Gampong 2, Dayandante 1, Marcos (L)

AdU (1) – Sudaria 16, Sarmiento 14, Yude 13, Pletado 10, Ramirez 7, Pablico 6, Melgar 0, Mendiolla (L)

Written By

Miguel Luis Flores fell face first into sports writing in high sch9l and has never gotten up. He reluctantly stumbled into the volleyball beat when he started with Tiebreaker Times three years ago. Now, he has waded through everything volleyball - from its icky politics to the post-modern art that is Jia Morado's setting.


You May Also Like

News

When dealt with heartbreaking scenarios, people often have two choices to do with it: to forget or to remember. For National University, it is...

News

Reigning MVP Josh Ybañez had a career-high 34 points as University of Santo Tomas recovered from an abysmal collapse in the first set to...

News

Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin lauded Flying Titans team captain Maddie Madayag for fighting through tendonitis in the team’s straight-set victory over Akari...

News

ANTIPOLO — Coming off a tight five-set loss to PLDT, Choco Mucho vented its frustrations on Akari, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21, to force a three-way...

AdU

Adamson University displayed grace under pressure in a tightly contested match to sweep University of the East, 25-17, 29-27, 25-22, in the UAAP Season...

ADMU

The UAAP released the full schedule of the Season 86 Women’s Volleyball Tournament’s second round on Thursday, featuring a highly anticipated rematch between the...

News

After losing its first game in the UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball tournament, National University is on a romp, winning its next seven games...

News

National University needed to fend off University of the Philippines in the first two sets before having its way in the third, 25-23, 25-22,...

Advertisement