Dindin Santiago (facebook photo)
MANILA, Philippines — National University carried itself well in its first game without Dindin Santiago following an 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-23 win over a hard-fighting University of the Philippines side Sunday.
The Lady Bulldogs had four players in double-figure scoring and that’s what their head coach Ariel dela Cruz wanted to compensate for the absence of Santiago and another key contributor in Mina Aganon, who had both spent out their playing years in the UAAP.
“It’s tough to be playing without Dindin and Aganon,” admitted dela Cruz. “But we joined here to give my six rookies exposure and to build our teamwork to ease out Dindin’s absence.”
“Without Dindin we lost 15-20 points a game sometimes even 30,” dela Cruz added in the opener of the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Open Conference at the jampacked Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
So far though, at least for this game, NU showed it can fill that hole with team effort.
Jaja Santiago, Dindin’s younger sister who still has three years left of eligibility, looked sharp with a game-high 21 points while Myla Pablo added 14.
Desiree Dadang and Jorelle Singh, one of the newcomers, had 10 each.
Rizza Mandapat tallied nine, including the clincher and Ivy Perez posted eight hits.
Dindin led the Lady Bulldogs to two UAAP Final Four appearances in the two years she suited up.
Katherine Bersola paced the Lady Maroons, who failed to sustain their strong start, with 17 points.
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