Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
University of the Philippines got back into the Final Four picture, overtaking National University after a 25-14, 25-27, 25-21, 25-12, win in the UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Lady Maroons, who’ve struggled mightily in their past seven games, improved to 7-5.
Marian Buitre finished things off for the Lady Maroons who now sit in the fourth place of the eight-team table.
UP assistant coach Rald Ricafort said the Lady Maroons have to play with a sense of urgency especially one slip could prove fatal for their Final Four hopes.
“Their focus right now is on their own performance because these last three games are all crucial to our standing,” said Ricafort. “Our morale is slowly improving after we went 1-5 in the middle of our schedule. We’re in the process of regaining our confidence we lost in the losses.”
UP played just eight players, including the libero, but six of those players managed to get into the score sheet and five finished in double figures.
Kathy Bersola, Isa Molde, and Diana Carlos all had 14 points to lead the Lady Maroons while Aiesha Gannaban and Marian Buitre had 13 and 12, respectively,
Jaja Santiago had 18 points to lead NU while Aiko Urdas had a dozen.
UP was dominant in every scoring facet of the game outscoring NU in spikes, 42-25, 16-13 in blocks, and 14-8 in blocks.