By: Justine Anne Gaerlan
University of the East remained unbeaten in the UAAP Season 86 Boys’ Volleyball Tournament after narrowly escaping National University Nazareth School with a 19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 15-11 victory on Sunday at the Adamson University Gym.
After dropping the first and fourth sets, the Junior Warriors fended off a gutsy Bullpups side. They established an 8-4 advantage early in the fifth set.
However, the Bustillos-based side mounted a comeback, scoring four consecutive points to tie the match at eight.
Both teams traded points until Xyrone Montemayor’s push and Jan Macam’s solid block closed out the match at 15-11.
UE seized the top spot with a 3-0 record, while NUNS fell to 2-1.
On the other hand, Adamson University overcame Far Eastern University-Diliman, 25-17, 25-18, 25-13, maintaining an unblemished record in the girls’ tournament.
Powered by the offensive duo of Shaina Nitura and Sam Cantada, the Lady Baby Falcons sprinted to an 8-0 start, creating a lead that the Lady Baby Tamaraws could not overcome.
Adamson University continued to dominate, preventing FEU-D from scoring runs of more than two points.
With the score at 23-13, a cross-court hit from Nitura put the Lady Baby Falcons at match point, followed by an attack from Kirsten Carpizo that secured them the victory, 25-13.
Adamson grabbed the solo lead at 3-0, while FEU-D slipped to 2-1.
In other games, De La Salle-Zobel secured its first win of the season in both divisions by defeating Ateneo in the boys’ division, 25-18, 25-15, 25-14, and the girls’ team of its archrivals, 25-15, 25-14, 25-16.
The Junior Spikers took an early lead in the final set, 9-6. Then they scored four consecutive points capped off by back-to-back blocks from Alessandro Baligod, widening the deficit to seven.
DLSZ went ahead 21-13 and scored four of the next five points, sealed by an attack from Floyd Marinduque to win the match, 25-14.
DLSZ improved its record to 1-2, while Ateneo dropped to 0-3.
Meanwhile, the Junior Lady Spikers held an early 10-6 lead before the Blue Eagles stormed back to get within one. DLS-Z then went on a 9-1 run, stretching their lead to nine.
The Junior Lady Spikers’ offense was unstoppable as they scored the last five points, including an attack from Julia Andres and the attack error from Angel Dagala that gave DLSZ the win, 25-16.
The Junior Lady Spikers rose to 1-1 with the win. On the other hand, Ateneo fell to 1-2.
