By: Justine Anne Gaerlan
NATIONAL University-Nazareth School and defending champion Adamson University pulled off key victories, handing University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University-Diliman their first losses in the UAAP Season 87 High School Girls’ Volleyball Tournament on Sunday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
The Lady Bullpups extended their winning streak to three games with a 21-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-17 victory over the Junior Golden Tigresses in a match that lasted an hour and 41 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Baby Falcons bounced back from last week’s loss to the Lady Bullpups by defeating the Lady Baby Tamaraws in four sets, 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 25-17, in a game that lasted an hour and 39 minutes.
These results forced a three-way tie for first place between NUNS, UST, and FEU-D, all holding 4-1 records, while Adamson improved to 3-2.
In the decisive fourth set of the NUNS-UST match, the Lady Bullpups surged to an early 10-1 lead and never looked back.
A tip from Harlyn Serneche brought NUNS to match point, but UST managed to score four consecutive points, including two from Lady Bullpups’ attack errors, cutting the lead to 24-17.
However, another tip from Serneche sealed the match.
“Sa part namin, the players stepped up sa situation na kailangan sila so it’s a good thing na nag-perform lang sila, ‘yung team mismo,” said NUNS head coach Karl Dimaculangan.
“So ine-expect naman natin na UST is malakas sila palagi. Pero mas nag-ano lang ‘yung players ngayon, after first set na loss they regained composure and siguro malaking bagay na nag-start na silang nag-eenjoy sa game,” the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball champion coach added.
Denesse Daylisan led NUNS with 17 points, including nine kills, four blocks, and four aces while Serneche and Diza Berayo provided strong support, contributing 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Setter Rihanna Navarro added 10 points and seven excellent sets. Defensively, Atasha Doroja stood out with 14 excellent digs.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
In the Adamson-FEU Diliman match, the Baby Falcons took control during the crucial fourth set.
With a 19-14 lead, Adamson launched a four-point run to extend the margin to nine points.
An attack error by FEU-D’s Franz Premaylon brought Adamson to match point before a service error by Sam Cantada temporarily delayed the victory.
Another attack error by Aleah Devosora ended the match.
“‘Yung mga bata kailangan i-push lang talaga sila towards the limit nila so ‘yun ‘yung tinrabaho namin all throughout na after loss sa NU so sabi ko kaya naman nating tapusin ‘yung game, o manalo sa game pero sometimes nagkukulang tayo,” said Baby Falcons head coach JP Yude.
“Pero ngayon, proud [ako] sa mga bata on what they’ve done ngayon,” the former Soaring Falcon continued.
Sam Cantada showed the way for Adamson with 15 points, including 12 kills, two aces, and a block.
Lhouriz Tuddao and Janessa Buhay stepped up with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Sofia Arasan orchestrated the offense with 12 excellent sets.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
For UST, Avril Bron stood out in the loss, contributing 13 points, including eight attacks and five blocks.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Despite FEU-D’s tough defeat, Raine Alonzo tallied 18 points on 16 kills.
