By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs locked up the No. 2 seed in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball after staging a 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-13 comeback victory over the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, April 22.
The defending champion Lady Bulldogs overturned a two-set deficit to seal second place at the end of the elimination round with a 10-4 record.
The result allows NU to skip the opening phase of the stepladder semifinals and move closer to a Finals berth.
“I’m very proud of them because, even though we were coming from a loss, and we were fatigued already from that, we pushed through this game and locked in the second rank. Very happy. Hopefully dire-diretso na po ito hanggang dulo po,” NU head coach Regine Diego said.
Negrense Arah Panique spearheaded the offense for the Lady Bulldogs with 24 points, Sam Cantada tallied 20 points, 17 excellent receptions and nine excellent digs, while Evangeline Alinsug contributed 13 markers.
“Gusto lang po naming makabawi sa pagkatalo namin last game kasi ‘yun ‘yung pinanghuhugutan talaga namin, ‘yung game na ‘yun. Masaya lang din po kami kasi makikita naman po ‘yung team effort namin and teamwork po,” Panique said.
Angeline Poyos top-scored for the Golden Tigresses with 24 points to go with 15 excellent receptions and nine excellent digs, while Regina Jurado chipped in 21 markers.
Meanwhile, the Golden Tigresses dropped into a tie with the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws at 8-6, leaving the two squads to dispute the last remaining Final 4 slot this Saturday, April 25.
FEU kept its campaign alive earlier in the day after also completing a reverse sweep, defeating the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, 22-25, 23-25, 25-12, 25-21, 15-10, to force the playoff scenario.
The De La Salle University Lady Spikers secured an outright finals berth after sweeping the eliminations with a 14-0 record, while the Adamson University Lady Falcons finished third and await their opponent in the stepladder round./ASC, WDJ