NU bounces back, blasts UP to end 1st round campaign

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

National University got back on the winning track after making quick work of University of the Philippines, 25-23, 25-23, 25-17, in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament Sunday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The Lady Bulldogs, who lost their previous game at the hands of Far Eastern University, ended the first round with an excellent 6-1 win-loss record while the Lady Maroons lost another three-setter and dropped to 2-5.

This is the first time in school history that they ended the first round as the top team in the tournament.

NU steadily kept UP at bay in the third set building a 13-8 lead midway through the period before Risa Sato increased the buffer to seven points, 20-13, with a through-the-block kill.

After Jaja Santiago’s toss went out of bounds that gave the Lady Maroons the slightest glimmer of hope, 24-17, the 6-foot-5 middle blocker ended the match with a booming quick kill down the middle.

NU head coach Babes Castillo said the win marked his team’s fighting spirit to bounce back from a loss after they dropped their only game of the tournament against the Lady Tamaraws.

“When we lost, we moved on and the way we approached this game was that we treated it as a statement game,” said Castillo. “I’m happy with how the team responded from Jaja to Audrey [Paran] to Aiko [Urdas], they are really owning this and proving that they deserve the no.1 spot.”

Santiago finished the match with a game-high 17 points while Risa Sato added 10 points and Jasmine Nabor orchestrating the offense with 32 excellent sets.

Diana Carlos led UP with 15 points with Isa Molde pitching in 11.