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MANILA, Philippines—The University of the Philippines Lady Maroons recorded their first ever victory in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference at the expense of the hard-luck Philippine National Police Lady Patrollers, 25-23, 24-26, 25-12, 26-24 at the Arena in San Juan Thursday afternoon.
Jewel Lai scored on a service ace to give the Lady Maroons their sole victory in the league for a 1-7 slate and end seventh in the eight-team standings.
PNP, on the other hand, finished dead-last in the heap as it failed to record a single victory in the tournament.
UP built a five-point lead in the fourth set, 20-15, but the Lady Patrollers went on a 6-1 run to tie it at 21 apiece.
After two errors from the Lady Patrollers, the Lady Maroons got a two-point bubble, 23-21, only to be popped with Christine Maderazo and Frances Molina both scoring to tie the boards at 23.
UP head coach Jerry Yee said that even with the dismal performance of his team, he wanted the Lady Maroons to gain the experience in the V-League before duking it out in the second semester of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
“The experience we got here is huge, the players learned so many things from the league,” Yee said whose team faced veteran squads and current UAAP champions Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles.
“I want them to get exposed, learn how to fight and not be afraid,” Yee added.
It was the third set that was a virtual no-contest when UP built a 13-point lead on two occasions.
Angeli Araneta, Monica Ortiz, and Nicole Tiamzon combined for 62 points to lead the Lady Maroons, while Molina paced PNP with 23.
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