Santiago, NU kick off title hunt vs UE spikers

Jaja Santiago leads NU Lady Bulldogs anew. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Collegiate standouts Jaja Santiago and Cherry Rondina will lead their respective teams when the UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament kicks off Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Santiago will banner the title-hungry National University against a University of the East side hoping to just improve on its last-place finish the previous season.

The two teams clash at 2 p.m.

At 4 p.m., Rondina will play her first match as team captain of the University of Santo Tomas squad that will battle an Ateneo team that is starting its post-Alyssa Valdez era.
The men’s competitions will also start with the same match-ups beginning 8 a.m.

Rondina, the flashy, high-leaping open spiker, will lead an almost intact Tigresses crew that include EJ Laure, Pam Lastimosa, Ria Meneses, Chlodia Cortez, Alexine Cabanos and Carla Sandoval.

Veteran Bea de Leon will be at the helm of Ateneo, which is rebuilding after Valdez finished her stint last year.

But focus will be on how the 6-foot-5 Santiago will impose herself in the collegiate field a year after she made star-turning performances in international competitions as well as with commercial team Foton.

One thing going against the National U Lady Bulldogs is the absence of key players who have already graduated, including playmaker Ivy Perez, spiker Myla Pablo and libero Bia General.

The Lady Bulldogs, under Roger Gorayeb, will have to regroup with newly acquired Filipino-Japanese Risa Sato and holdovers Jorelle Singh, Jasmin Nabor, Aiko Urdas, Roma Doromal, Lamie Aberin, Audrey Paran, Gayle Valdez, Roselyn Doria and Joni Chavez.