NU officially eliminates UE from UAAP Final 4 contention

NU Lady Bulldogs. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

And with that, the red band is out of the Final Four picture.

National University bagged a much-needed win in the UAAP Season 78 Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the expense of the woeful University of the East, 25-15, 25-12, 25-11, Sunday at San Juan Arena.

Substitute Klarisa Abriam made up for her lost match point and converted on a crosscourt kill for her lone point of the match.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 5-5 while the Lady Warriors absorbed their 55 straight loss since Season 74.

The victory was a welcome development for head coach Roger Gorayeb and his struggling Lady Bulldogs after their heart-wrenching loss against Ateneo.

“Sana ganito na lang lagi,” Gorayeb said. “Galing kami sa hindi magandang situation, matatalo kang di ka maka receive, gulo yung plays, yung mga senior mo di nag deliver, very hard talaga sa amin ang situation na to.”

NU was the talk of the league before the season started and was seen as a challenger to Ateneo and La Salle, but the Lady Bulldogs’ poor start was not what the community had expected.

“Daming situations ngayon, at mataas expectation so binabalik ko lang yung laro nila.”

Veterans Jaja Santiago and Myla Pablo avenged their woeful performance against Ateneo, this time putting up 16 and 10 points, respectively, to lead NU.

Shaya Adorador, the only consistent player in the UE roster, had 11 points for the 0-10 Lady Warriors.