NU grabs solo, dispatches Adamson in tiebreaker

MANILA, Philippines – Holding their ground and their ranks in the UAAP Volleyball standings, the National University Lady Bulldogs took down the Adamson University Lady Falcons 3-1, 25-17, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19, Sunday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena.

NU solely took the third spot as they are now in a 4-3 win-loss record behind league-leaders Ateneo and De La Salle which, as of press time, are duking out in a finals rematch.

Adamson meanwhile dropped to 3-4 in a three way tie with Far Eastern University and University of the Philippines.

Rizza Mandapat gave the Lady Bulldogs the matchpoint with an impressive block to make it 24-18 and Lady Falcon Mary Dacoron lost airspace when she hit her serve well over the dog grounds to hand over the victory to the Lady Bulldogs.

Despite the victory, NU head coach Roger Gorayeb said that they still have a lot to do before they gel into the system.

“If there is a hundred percent bar, we’re about at the 60 percent mark,” Gorayeb said who coached his first full match with the team. “But they are picking up what I’ve been explaining to them, what I want them to do.”

“My goal is to help them in the remaining three months,” Gorayeb said.

NU’s only setback was the third set which Amanda Villanueva hit her marks and Fe Emnas tame them with a strong shot off their blockade that extended the Lady Falcon’s leash.

Momentum, though, once again swung to NU’s side in the fourth where the Lady Bulldogs clamped down the throats of the grounded Lady Falcons.

Gorayeb said that of his 100 percent target, they are still the finer points of the defense which still need to improve.

He added that in the short period of three months, he has to make the young NU squad into the perennial contenders that his former team, Ateneo, trained for five years.

“I always compare my job here in NU with the one that I had in Ateneo,” said Gorayeb who led the Lady Eagles to two straight Finals appearances before the ladies in blue finally got the gold in 2014. “This team has the pieces, they have potential but they’re young. If this was the team from last year, we would go a long way.”

“If you play inspired volleyball, things will happen.”

Jaja Santiago was on beast mode with 26 points while attack partner Myla Pablo had 15 for the Lady Bulldogs.

Amanda Villanueva, Mylene Paat and Jessica Galanza combined for 37 points in the loss.