The Philippine Star

Lady Bulldogs eye sweep, PVL crown

- By KRISTINA VILLANUEVA

National University guns for a first-ever sweep of a Premier Volleyball League crown today as it slugs it out with a Far Eastern U side raring for a comeback in Game Two of the Collegiate Conference Finals at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The Lady Bulldogs hope to ride the momentum of their unbeaten run dating from the eliminatio­ns of the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision, seeking to finish off the Lady Bulldogs in their 6:30 p.m. clash and complete a nine-game sweep of the championsh­ip.

NU carved out a 25-22, 2125, 25-18, 26-24 victory in the opener of their best-of-three series late Wednesday but only after surviving a fourth set meltdown on FEU’s back-to-back miscues at endgame.

“I gave them the opportunit­y to stay calm under pressure. Next is for them to know how to focus, become more mature and handle situations aggressive­ly because they lost their aggressive­ness in the end,” said NU coach Babes Castillo, noting how his charges are still learning to find the right balance between being relaxed and being assertive.

Jaja Santiago sustained her 20-point numbers for the Lady Bulldogs since their semis sweep of the Arellano Lady Chiefs, scoring 23 points built on 15 hits, four blocks and four aces in their Game One victory. The 6-4 national team mainstay is again expected to impose her will and power along with teammates Risa Sato, Jorelle Singh, Aiko Urdas and ace playmaker Jasmine Nabor.

But the Lady Tamaraws are far from being finished with coach George Pascua confident of his wards’ ability to rise from the challenge the way they did in their Final Four duel with the Adamson Lady Falcons.

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