University of the Philippines Lady Maroons bucked the challenge of the University of Batangas Lady Brahmans with a 24-26, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 victory at the Shakeys V-League Collegiate Conference at the FilOil Flying V Arena, Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Maroons took a 16-14 lead after the second technical timeout. They looked poised to take over the set as Marian Buitre, Justine Dorog, and Maristella Layug contributed to establish a 21-15 lead, but errors from the Lady Maroons helped the Lady Brahmans get back in the game. The quick hits of Krissa Madalogdog put the University of Batangas in the driver seat at 23-all, and two consecutive errors from Dorog and Diane Carlos gave the Lady Brahmans the first set.
In the second set, the Lady Maroons and Lady Brahmans exchanged points early. UP was able to create some separation as Dorog scored a quick attack for an 8-5 lead for the Lady Maroons. Isabel Molde and Carlos scored off the Lady Brahmans pesky floor defense to lead 16-10 after the second technical timeout. Dorog’s presence continued to be felt, as she scored a kill to build a 20-14 lead, eventually leading UP to tie the set at one apiece.
It was a tight battle in the third set as Carla Montenegro scored to give University of Batangas a slim 8-6 lead. Still, the Lady Maroons launched a barrage of attacks courtesy of Layug, Molde, and Dorog to tie the game at 14 all. As Carlos scored two straight points for UP for a 16-14 lead, The Lady Brahmans were never able to recover from the UP offense.
University of Batangas built a 4-0 lead against the Lady Maroons in the early parts of the fourth set, but errors helped UP retake the lead at 8-6. Both teams exchanged points all through out before Carlos delivered a back hit to put UP at a 16-14 lead. Behind the efforts of Molde, Buitre, and Carlos, UP erased any hope for the Lady Brahmans to stage a comeback.
Lady Maroons Head Coach Jerry Yee lauded the floor defense of the reigning NCAA South champion as the reason his team struggled to create points, but, luckily, they had the talent to counter the pesky Lady Brahmans.
“Madepensa sila, mahirap magpatay ng bola, loaded lang tayo kaya nakalamang,” said Yee.
Hope Christian High School standout Molde once again led the Lady Maroons with 21 points, while Dorog and Carlos contributed 18 and 17 points apiece.
Madalogdog, Cyren Montecer and Kimberly Jamilla leads the Lady Brahmans offensive stands with 11 points each, and Lalyn Garcia chipped nine points.
The Lady Maroons will next face the defending Collegiate conference champion the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws on August 2 at 12:45 PM, while the Lady Brahmans next assignment is against the NCAA champion Arellano University Lady Chiefs a day earlier at 3:00 PM in the same venue.
The scores:
UP (3) – Molde 21, Dorog 18, Carlos 17, Buitre 10, Layug 6, Lai 2, Basatre 1, Ong 0, Alinas 0, Gaiser (L), Estranero (L)
UB (1) – Madalogdog 11, Jamilla 11, Montecer 11, Garcia 9, Montenegro 4, Castor 1, Romero 0, Tabion(L), Maquinto (L)
