By Adrian Stewart Co

Madeleine Madayag of Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) recently set a record for blocks during their 19-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-11 win over the University of Santo Tomas in the 81st UAAP women’s volleyball season at the San Juan Arena.

Madayag posted 11 blocks, alongside 11 attacks and a service ace, to earn 23 points, which kept AdMU atop the standings with a 7-1 record.

In addition, Kat Tolentino added 20 points, while Isabel Beatriz de Leon and Pauline Gaston contributed 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

Down by two sets, AdMU took a 12-8 lead in the third but UST showed their resiliency by forcing several deadlocks. At 25-all, De Leon came up with back-to-back hits for Ateneo.

UST jumped to a 17-12 lead in the fourth frame but Ateneo slowly clawed its way back to tie the count at 20-all before Tolentino and Madayag unloaded and forced a fifth set.

Both teams were locked in a tight exchange in the fifth with UST ahead slightly at 10-8. However, AdMU came up with six straight points to reach match point before taking the match on a UST error./ASC, WDJ