Lady Bulldogs remain unshaken; Lady Falcons notch No. 3

National U’s Michaela Belen scores through a double UST block. —UAAP MEDIA

Shaking off an erratic effort to end the first set, National University (NU) on Saturday extended its unblemished opening streak in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball competition after dumping University Santo Tomas (UST), 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-15, to stay in the lead at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Lady Bulldogs also bounced back from a third-set loss to put the Golden Tigresses away and zoom to their fifth straight win even as Adamson sustained its resurgence with a 23-25, 25-9, 25-18, 25-18 triumph over Far Eastern University (FEU), giving the Lady Falcons a third consecutive win earlier.

It was the second straight loss in a 3-2 card for the Tigresses, who won the third set only after the Lady Bulldogs lapsed into 17 errors.

Erratic

“We had a lot of errors and that is one thing we need to fine-tune moving forward,” National U coach Karl Dimaculangan said in Filipino.

Alyssa Solomon scored 17 points to lead NU, which also drew 16 points, 11 digs and 11 excellent receptions from Michaela Belen.

Eya Laure, after dropping back-to-back 28-point games, was held down to just 18 by the NU defense this time.

Next up for National is a tip against Far Eastern, which it has beaten in their last four encounters and the Lady Tamaraws will come into that 6 p.m. match on Tuesday licking the wounds of a loss to the Lady Falcons.

Lucille Almonte scored 17 points as Adamson, after dropping its first two games, climbed into a tie with Santo Tomas. Kate Santiago, who only played in three sets, still contributed 14 points for the Lady Falcons.

Sense of urgency

“We felt that FEU really wanted this game, so I told my players that the key to winning would be to match or surpass their intensity,” said Adamson coach Lerma Giron in Filipino.

Trisha Genesis chipped in with 11 points and seven excellent receptions while May Ann Nuique and Rizza Cruz each had 10 for the Lady Falcons.

Far Eastern pulled away late to take the first set before Adamson played with that sense of urgency Giron talked about as the Lady Falcons put together a 14-3 string in the second. It was all Adamson from there.

Nikka Medina paced the Lady Tamaraws, who dropped to 1-4 in the standings, with 13 points and eight excellent digs.

Adamson will take on UST on Tuesday at 4 p.m.