MANILA, Philippines-Little by little, the Final Four cast of the UAAP Season 77 Volleyball Tournament is getting filled.
Getting their groove on in the final sets, the National University Lady Bulldogs trounced the Adamson University Lady Bulldogs, 25-18, 22-25, 26-24, 25-19, to clinch a Final Four slot in the tournament Wednesday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena.
NU, as of posting time, is in solo third behind league leaders Ateneo and La Salle with a 7-6 record while Adamson is at sixth at 5-8.
It was a tale of errors for Adamson and NU as Jessica Galanza botched her attempt to put the Lady Bulldogs at match point, 24-18, but Rizza Mandapat awarded the Lady Falcons a free point, 24-19, after her serve went long.
Lady Falcons captain Faye Guevara, however, would follow the error trail as her serve also went long that sealed the victory for NU, 25-19.
NU head coach Roger Gorayeb said he would still like his team to be consistent as their target is a stellar performance in the Final Four.
“Inconsistent? In a way, their movements are still not that fluid,” Gorayeb said. “Sometimes their intensity would rocket up but at times it would dwindle down.”
He added that he is still satisfied with his team’s performance even in the one-and-half months that he coached NU.
“I’ll be preparing for the game against UP but I really want to improve our game for the Final Four.”
Jaja Santiago had the green light once again with 25 points while Mandapat and Myla Pablo combined for 23 points for the Lady Bulldogs.
Adamson’s trio of Mylene Paat, Jessica Galanza and Amanda Villanueva combined for 44 points.
Looking almost pedestrian out in the court, the Lady Falcons mainly relied on Villanueva and Guevara for their points while NU kept on pounding on their field.
NU had an eight-point lead, 23-15, in the closing moments.