UE Lady Warriors. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-University of the East finally broke into the win column, but not after surviving University of the Philippines in a backbreaking five-setter, 16-25, 25-21, 26-24, 19-25, 15-12, on Wednesday night at the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball.
KC Cepada powered the Lady Warriors with 19 points on 17 attacks on top of 14 digs and a pair of blocks and Vanessa Bangayan added 15 points and 17 digs in their first victory of the season after 13 games.
“There’s no pressure at all. We weren’t able to play our best all season long,” said UE coach Jumbo Dimaculangan, whose Lady Warriors ended a long drought of 17 games against UP by defeating the Lady Maroons for the first time since the 2012 season.
Stephanie Bustrillo scored 21 points built on 17 attacks and Nina Ytang added 14 points for the Lady Maroons, whose ninth straight loss tied them with the Lady Warriors.
“We gave our best because we have nothing to lose anyway. We just wanted to win,” said Janeca Lana after chipping in 10 points punctuated by a crosscourt smash that clinched the game.
Bangayan’s crosscourt wallop put the Lady Warriors ahead in the third set after a standoff at 24 and Abi Goc accelerated UP’s downfall with an attack blunder that went wide beyond the end line.
Bidding to bring it to the limit, the Lady Maroons immediately got off the gates in the fourth frame and zoomed ahead with Bustrillo’s ace giving them a 17-5 bubble.
Cepada and Bangayan then chased the Lady Maroons with an assortment of spikes that cut the lead to five, but errors came aplenty for UE that ultimately led to their downfall.
The Lady Warriors put their act together in the final set with structured blocking and aggressive reception and cashed in on UP’s flaw in the end.
Bustrillo lost the handle that pushed them to the brink before Lana put the finishing touches with the crosscourt kill.
The Lady Warriors will cap their season against the La Salle Lady Spikers on Saturday before UP faces another uphill climb in title-contender University of Santo Tomas on Sunday.