Behind another stellar outing from Bryan Bagunas, the National University Bulldogs bagged their 10th win of the UAAP Season 81 Men’s Volleyball tournament, sweeping the De La Salle University Green Spikers, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Season 80 Finals MVP notched 23 points for National U, converting 21 of his 34 spike attempts. Bagunas, the league’s leading scorer, was glad his high-scoring exploits have resulted in wins for NU.
“Siguro kung ano kailangan ng team, ‘yun ‘yung gusto kong mailabas sa sarili ko. ‘Yung pagpuntos naman parte lang ‘yun ng kailangan para manalo,” said Bagunas.
“Ang importante talaga is nananalo po kami, at palapit na kami doon sa goal namin na championship,” the national team stalwart added.
The defending champs improved their record to 10-1. One more win from them – or a loss from both Adamson and Ateneo (7-4) – gives them a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four.
While they limited their errors to a season-low 15, the Green Spikers could not hurdle NU’s offensive advantage as they fell behind 27-47 in spikes.
Graduating skipper Cris Dumago and middle blocker JD Delos Reyes topped La Salle with eight points each. The Green Spikers’ 4-7 record puts them on the brink of Final Four elimination.
NU face the struggling University of Santo Tomas (4-7) on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Meanwhile, La Salle take on the Adamson University on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores
NU (3) – Bagunas 23, Almendras 11, Natividad 9, Malabunga 7, Saura 5, Retamar 3, Gampong 2, Ancheta 0, Marcos (L)
DLSU (0) – Delos Reyes 8, Dumago 8, Reyes 6, Bacon 5, Anima 4, Serrano 2, Balanong 1, Inocentes 1, Marco 1, De Jesus 0, Macaspac (L)
