Lady Bulldogs bag hard-fought win over Lady Falcons in UAAP volleyball

MANILA, Philippines — National University earned a hard-fought 26-28, 25-21, 30-28, 25-20 win over Adamson Sunday in the UAAP season 76 women’s volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

With no team giving an inch for three gruelling sets, the Lady Bulldogs found the opening in the decisive fourth set, anchored on a total-team effort.

Five players had double-digit showings for NU as Carmin Aganon finished with 15 points, Jaja Santiago with 14, Myla Pablo and Aiko Urdas with 13 apiece and Dindin Santiago with 12.

“I just told them to relax and enjoy the game because they were too tight,” said head coach Edjet Mabbayad. “We had trouble early because we were too slow.”

Even with a frustrating 26-28 first set defeat, the Lady Bulldogs managed to keep their composure to punctuate their first round campaign.

NU remains at second place in the standings with a 6-1 card.

The Lady Falcons, despite a valiant 24-point effort from Sheila Pineda, dropped to 3-3 as they lost steam towards the end of the match.

Amanda Villanueva also had 14 points for Adamson, which failed to take advantage of its 9-0 edge in service winners.