V-League: NU tops five-setter, forces winner-take-all game three

The NU Lady Bulldogs forced a third game in their Shakey's V-League 1st Conference semifinal series against the Adamson Lady Falcons, after winning in five sets, 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 15-12, Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Adamson had won game one of the best-of-three clash on Tuesday, inflicting the first loss of the tourney on NU behind the dominance of Angela Benting, also in a five-set outing 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 15-13, but they were unable to close things out and advance to the Finals here.

With momentum on their side, the Lady Falcons started the first set with six service aces, with three each from May Macatuno and Shiela Pineda, putting them ahead, 9-7. With Faye Guevara supporting Benting in the front row, Adamson stretched their lead to 16-12.

The Adamson attack did not stop as they extended their lead to 20-14. The Lady Bulldogs made a comeback at 23-20, thanks to Myla Pablo’s aggressive spikes, however, they were unable to remain consistent in the final stretch, dropped it with a score of 25-20.

NU bounced back in the second set, banking on the splendid blocking of Carmela Aganon, Jaja and Dindin Santiago, to go up 8-6 by the first technical timeout. The set faced multiple deadlocks, before NU managed a three-point cushion at 19-16.

However, behind the confidence and sheer strength of Pau Soriano, the Lady Falcons knotted the set once again at 21-all. That turned out however to be as far as they would go, as Carmina Aganon piled up consecutive attacks for the Lady Bulldogs. NU finished the set at 25-21 with back-to-back service aces from Dindin Santiago.

The third set was another tight match as Benting and the rest of the Lady Falcons could only manage on a one-point lead, 8-7 at the first technical timeout.

Aganon however continued to score for NU, as her cleanly-hit spikes propelled the Lady Bulldogs ahead at 15-9. NU’s aggressiveness forced Adamson to a series of unforced errors, to extend the Lady Bulldog’s advantage to 18-10.

Adamson though got key plays from Guevara and Mylene Paat, sparking a comeback. With Soriano, Shiela Pineda, and Benting attacking in full force, they were able to bounce back strong. An 11-4 scoring run allowed them to trail by just one, 22-21.

Despite the Lady Bulldogs reaching set point at 24-22, the Lady Falcons remained in their rhythm. They managed to pull through at 25-24, all because of a rattled NU defense. Pau Soriano then ended things emphatically with a service ace to complete their comeback, 26-24.

With Dindin Santiago, Aiko Urdas, and Myla Pablo leading the way in the fourth set, the Lady Bulldogs were once again ahead early on, 10-6. The Lady Falcons were able to avoid an NU blowout though, with Benting playing well in the service zone, tying the set at 10-all.

The wall-like blocking of the Santiago sisters would however give the Lady Bulldogs the edge at 23-19. Adamson attempted a comeback by trimming the lead to 23-21, but Pablo’s precise attacks were too much for the Lady Falcons. as NU forced a fifth and final set at 25-21.

The Lady Falcons struggled in the fifth set as NU’s blocking forced them into multiple unforced errors. Their foes capitalized on the situation, as Urdas remained aggressive for the Lady Bulldogs, forging an 8-2 advantage.

Despite a valiant effort by the Pineda-Benting-Soriano trio to come from behind, the Lady Bulldogs’ blocking was too much, as they forced a third game in their semis match-up, with a 15-12 win.

Aleona Santiago led the way for NU with 27 big points, 18 off spikes. Carmina Aganon added 19 markers, while Myla Pablo and Alyja Santiago scored 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Adamson drew 20 from Pau Soriano and 17 from Shiela Pineda in the loss. After scoring 28 in their win, guest player Angela Benting was held to just 13 in this outing.

Game three is set for Sunday at the FilOil Flying V Arena at 4pm. - CLP/AMD, GMA News