Reigning champion Nazareth School of National University dealt Far Eastern University-Diliman its first loss with a 25-18, 20-25, 25-18, 21-25, 17-15 victory, leaving University of the East as the lone unbeaten team in the UAAP Season 85 high school boys volleyball tournament at the Paco Arena Tuesday.
The Red Warriors extended their perfect run to four with a sweep of Ateneo, 25-4, 25-18, 25-17.
The Bullpups were pushed to the limit by the hard-fighting Baby Tamaraws, needing two hours and six minutes to force a three-way tie in second place.
With a 3-1 record, NSNU moved into a tie with FEU-Diliman and University of Santo Tomas, a 25-9, 25-4, 25-15 winner over De La Salle-Zobel.
The Bullpups took an 11-8 lead on a Matthew Abut service ace and reached match point, 14-12, on a Baby Tamaraws error.
FEU then scored three consecutive points to gain the upper hand at 15-14, when NSNU’s Jeffe Gallego nailed a spike to force the match’s final deadlock at 15-15.
The Bullpups regained the advantage at 16-15 after Amet Bituin’s spike went outside. A double block on Bituin on the next rally gave NSNU the victory.
Action resumes on Thursday with three boys’ matches starting at 8 a.m. at the same Manila venue.