V-League: Ousted NU upsets Cagayan

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MANILA, Philippines—Also-ran National University foiled Cagayan Valley’s bid to secure at least a playoff for a semifinals spot with a 23-25,18-25, 25-16, 25-22, 16-14 comeback win in the quarterfinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Open Conference Tuesday at the Arena in San Juan.

Jaja Santiago led all scorers with 24 points while Myla Pablo fired 15 points capped by a spike from the left wing that completed the Lady Bulldogs’ rally from two sets down and a 10-13 deficit in the deciding set.

“We’re not chasing anything so I just told them to play the game,” said NU head coach Ariel dela Cruz in Filipino. “We defended well and blocked. The team responded after being down by two sets.”

“The game plan wasn’t followed in the first two sets. But we got it going after winning the third set,” dela Cruz added.

The Lady Rising Suns seemed on their way to getting their first win in the quarterfinals after taking a 13-10 advantage following back-to-back outside hits by the Lady Bulldogs.

But defending champion Cagayan also had its fair share of errors with Maizo uncharacteristically committing two in a row that kept the door open for NU.

NU then had another error that put its opponent at match point, 14-13, but Rizza Jane Mandapat and Pablo scored on timely hits with another Maizo attacking error in between sealed the upset win for the Lady Bulldogs.

“If you look at the result I’m not satisfied but we were able to meet our goals to beat all of the collegiate teams here in the tournament,” said dela Cruz.

The two teams combined for 65 errors with Cagayan, losers of three straight, committing 33.

Maizo still led the Lady Rising Suns 21 markers before losing steam in the end.

NU’s win also relieved Ateneo some pressure to beat semis-bound and current leader Philippine Army later.

The Lady Eagles, currently outside of the playoff picture at 5-5, though, still have to beat the Lady Bulldogs on Thursday to keep their semis hopes alive.

“We really want to win against Ateneo. They’re the defending (UAAP) champion and it would be a nice feeling if we beat them.”

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