In a highly emotional contest, the National University Lady Bulldogs overcame the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons and their hostile crowd to score a five-set win, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 15-12, to end the UAAP Season 79 first round at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
While the venue is NU’s official home court, throngs of UP supporters painted the bleachers maroon and showered the night with UP cheers. Still, the Lady Bulldogs persevered, showing the fire and focus they had lacked in previous games to squeeze out a first set win then dominate the second frame.
The following two frames, however, were disastrous for the Jhocson-based program. NU head coach Roger Gorayeb explained that his players did not lack in desire but failed to follow the game plan.
“Hindi nawala ‘yung fire nila. May mga nawala lang sa kanila sa loob ng court. May mga nakalimot ng dapat nilang lugar,” recalled Gorayeb.
The fifth set was a back-and-forth struggle. NU took the early lead, 6-4, but star middle Jaja Santiago then rotated to the back row. From there, NU struggled as their attack errors and serve errors pushed UP to an 11-8 lead. Luckily, Risa Sato broke the NU drought with a crowd-silencing kill, and placed Santiago in the front row. UP managed only a single point until the end of the match, as Santiago dominated the net while Sato peppered the UP backline with two aces, including the set-clinching delivery.
“Fighting against a team like UP, mga bata yan, sige lang ng sige. Mahirap hindi mo mapredict ngayon apat kaming tie sa third,” said Gorayeb. “I’m happy na nag-respond ‘yung mga bata kanina. Kailangan namin ‘yun.”
Santiago finished the match with 18 points off 14 attacks, two blocks, and two aces. Risa Sato added 12 points which includes six aces. Both teams surrendered errors, but NU limited theirs to 36 while UP had 40.
NU are now tied with the University of Santo Tomas, UP, and the Far Eastern University all with 4-3 records.
On Wednesday, UP next take on UE in the first match, while UST will face Ateneo in the second at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Marian Buitre led UP with 20 points while Diana Carlos and Nicole Tiamzon combined for 33 points. UP had to play much of the match without libero Pia Gaiser, who suffered a knee injury at the onset of the first set.
The Scores
NU (3) – Santiago 18, Singh 15, Sato 12, Urdas 9, Nabor 5, Doromal 4, Doria 1, Paran 1, Valdez (L)
UP (2) – Buitre 20, Carlos 18, Tiamzon 15, Molde 7, Gannaban 3, Estrañero 2, Bersola 1, Basarte 0, Sandoval 0, Dorog (L)
