V-League: UST overpowers Bualee’s 38-point output; NU remains undefeated

(Updated 7:00 pm) The University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses and the National University Lady Bulldogs continue their solid performances as they each picked up another win, Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Arena, in the tenth season of the Shakey’s V-League. In the first game of a doubleheader, the Golden Tigresses triumphed against their NCAA-based foes, the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Lady Stags, in four sets, 19-25, 25-14, 25-22, and 25-22. The Lady Stags kicked off the match with an explosive 8-3 start against the Tigresses. San Sebastian was in control of the pace of the game, as guest players Jeng Bualee and Su Roces led the offensive attack. Against a variation of cross-court spikes and well executed drop shots, the Tigresses would find themselves down 16-10 by the second technical time out. UST’s Maika Ortiz’s running spikes were well-defended as her specialty shot was limited, care of the Lady Stag’s blocking. San Sebastian finished the first set with Czarina Berbano’s attacks and a well-placed Trisha Crisostomo drop shot for a 25-19 score. The Tigresses improved at the start of the second set as the Lady Stags struggled with their unforced errors. Three straight opportunities were wasted because of mistimed sets for the leaping Lady Stags attackers. That allowed UST to grab an early 7-3 lead, only to find themselves deadlocked at 11-all. Fortunately for the Tigresses, Carmela Tunay and Ortiz remained aggressive, to give their team a four-point lead once again at 16-12. The UST advantage eventually bubbled into a 21-12 buffer.  An Aiza Maizo attack that went down the line then won the set for them, 25-14. The Lady Stag’s Jolina Labiano started the third set with three straight points, with two coming from back-to-back service aces, setting the pace for SSC-R with a 6-2 advantage. But Maizo’s consistent service game and attacks helped the Tigresses crawl back, and even take the lead at 9-8. Pamela Lastimosa then provided key points for UST to propel them on top at 17-12. The lead turned out to be short-lived however, as the Tigresses eventually collapsed due to a string of consecutive unforced errors, including a rotation error, to give the lead back to the Lady Stags at 21-19. Despite the two-point deficit, the experienced UST team remained possessed proper composure, to rally themselves back ahead, with Ortiz delivering an emphatic running spike to capture the set at 25-22. With the Lady Stags pinned down in a must-win situation, Bualee led her team to a 7-0 start in the fourth set. With the guest player carrying the offensive load for the Lady Stags, the Tigresses were still able to adjust and anticipate well on the defensive end, to tie things at 15-all. With a big spark coming from Jessey De Leon in the final stretch of the match, UST escaped with a 25-22 win. With the 35 excellent sets by Rhea Dimaculangan, UST had four players reach double figures with Maika Ortiz at 18, Carmela Tunay at 17, guest player Aiza Maizo at 14, and Pamela Lastimosa at 10. Meanwhile the scoring exhibition displayed by Jeng Bualee, with her 38-point explosion was not enough to lift her squad to victory.   The second match of the day was a battle of streaks, as the undefeated National University Lady Bulldogs emerged victorious against the winless University of San Carlos Lady Warriors in four sets, 23-25, 25-17, 25-10, and 25-20. In what was shaping up to be a blowout set, with a 5-0 Lady Bulldogs start, the Warriors rallied back to tie the contest at 6-all. USC benefited mostly from the Lady Bulldogs’ overly aggressive attacks that flew outside, as NU would find themselves ahead by only one point at the second technical timeout, 16-15. With the Warriors retaining their consistency, they would find themselves ahead by as much as three at 20-17. Dindin Santiago would force a tied game at 22-al, but her offensive power would be matched by Chona Gesulga and guest player Abigail Praca. With the crowd in full support of the underdogs, the Warriors escaped a close one with a score of 25-23. The Lady Bulldogs started the second set in the same manner they did in the first as they were scoring at will. At the first technical timeout, they held a four point advantage at 8-4. But much like in the first set, the Warriors would fight back care of Suzette Panis and Gesulga’s scoring. USC would take the lead at 12-10 before guest player Rubie De Leon and Myla Pablo took control of the set for the Lady Bulldogs. At the second technical timeout, NU found themselves with a precious four-point lead at 16-12. With Santiago and Pablo scoring consistently though, the Lady Bulldogs easily grabbed this one, 25-17. It was once again a good start for the Lady Bulldogs as they held an 8-4 advantage by the first technical timeout. Jaja Santiago, Carmina Aganon and Maricar Nepomuceno stepped up for the Lady Bulldogs, as they contributed to an 11-0 scoring run, destroying the Warriors, 25-10. The NU Lady Bulldogs did not look back in the fourth set as they finished off their opponents in a well-contested match-up. Despite the continuous effort by the Warriors, sparked by Praca and Methosheena Bate, NU’s De Leon would be too good of a veteran as her wise on-court decisions would set up the offense for the athletic Nepomuceno, Pablo and Santiago to finish the match at 25-20.     De Leon finished the set with 38 excellent sets, while Santiago provided her usual scoring output, as she scattered 17 markers.  - CLP/AMD, GMA News