NU, Adamson spikers on track
Games on Wednesday (Filoil EcoOil Center, San Juan) 9 a.m. – UE vs FEU (men’s) / 11 a.m. – UE vs FEU (women’s) 3 p.m. – UST vs ADMU (women’s) / 5 p.m. – UST vs ADMU (men’s) Reigning champion National U and surprise contender Adamson whipped their respective counterparts to stay closely behind leader La Salle in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball yesterday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. The Lady Bulldogs clobbered winless University of the East, 25-23, 25-9, 25-12, while the Lady Falcons blanked skidding Ateneo, 25-18, 25-23, 25-19, to maintain a share of second spot with 4-1 cards. La Salle, last season’s runner-up, is comfortably ahead of the race at 5-0 with two games to go in the first round of the elims. UE is winless at 0-5 while Ateneo took its third consecutive loss at 1-4. The Lady Bulldogs, whose lone loss came against fourth-running Santo Tomas (3-2), stayed within striking distance from La Salle behind a scattered attack led by Alyssa Solomon with 15 points on 14 hits and a block.
All 14 players saw action in NU’s dominant win that needed only 69 minutes with reigning MVP Mhicaela Belan and Erin May Pangilinan churning out 13 and 10 markers, respectively.
“We were able to execute more efficiently in the second and third sets after a slow start, leading to a better outcome for us,” said coach Karl Dimaculangan of NU’s second straight win.
Later, Adamson would not be left out of the airtight race with a convincing win of its own spearheaded by hard-hitting rookie Trisha Tubu’s 23 points on 22 attacks.
Kate Santiago added 11 points and nine digs while captain Louie Romero plotted the Lady Falcons’ offense with 20 sets and an ace, much to the delight of first-year mentor Jerry Yee.