Lady Bulldogs win first crown since 1956-57

MANILA, Philippines - In a nerve-wracking, gut-wrenching finale, first-timer National University proved it can handle the pressure. Only later it failed to handle the trophy.

The Lady Bulldogs mishandled the huge glass trophy at the height of their celebration following their four-set conquest of Ateneo in their sudden death duel for the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 First Conference crown, breaking it into pieces after breaking the hearts of the two-time champions before a packed crowd at the Philsports Arena last night.

NU pounced on Ateneo’s three service errors late in the fourth set and pounded out a thrilling 25-23, 25-20, 17-25, 26-24 victory as Lady Bulldogs nailed the hotly-disputed crown on their very first try.

Best setter Rubie de Leon scored on a brilliant two-handed push through the unguarded corner of Ateneo’s side to break a 24-all count then MVP Dindin Santiago blasted through a fiery kill that the Lady Eagles failed to return, capping a stirring four-point windup and ending the 1:46 contest that seemed like a one-sided match but nearly ended up in a classic five-set encounter.

But three points away from forcing a decider of a do-or-die match, 22-20, the Lady Eagles blew their chance with three miscues off the serve, enabling the Lady Bulldogs to score six of the last eight points, snatch the set, the match and the championship.

“It’s a proud accomplishment and we dedicate this victory to the school and the whole community as well as our supporters,” said NU coach Edjet Mabbayad, who was appointed in an interim basis last April but may end up keeping the job for the coming UAAP season.

It was NU’s first women’s volley championship since winning back-to-back UAAP plums in the 1956-57 seasons.

“Grabe. First time…this is history,” said Santiago in the din of the NU celebration. The Lady Bulldogs’ previous best in the league sponsored by Shakey’s was fourth in the 2011 conference ruled by Ateneo.

Santiago, who also tied it at 24 following the third of Ateneo’s service errors, finished with 17 hits, including 15 kills, while Myla Pablo, Carmina Aganon and De Leon chipped in 13 hits apiece.

De Leon, whose smart plays set up the Santiagos for quick, vicious kills and kept Ateneo blockers guessing most of the way, went on to bag the Finals MVP honors.

“I just let my instincts take over and I when I saw a hole, I tried to bring it there quickly, which worked,” said De Leon, the current coach at Poveda who now has two Shakey’s V-League crowns after helping steer UST to the championship in 2009, in Filipino. She finished with 19 excellent sets.

Jaja Santiago, the other half of NU’s twin towers, added 12 points, including three blocks.

The Lady Bulldogs, who lost the opener of their best-of-three series in straight sets but bounced back by sweeping the Lady Eagles, also in three, dominated the first two sets with De Leon setting up the Santiago sisters, Pablo and Aganon for the kills.

They threatened to complete a sweep by going 7-1 at the start of the third. But the Lady Eagles rallied behind Alyssa Valdez and Rachel Anne Daquis with Valdez coming alive after a so-so performance in the first two sets, scoring three hits to wrap the third frame, 25-17.

NU still took control in the early going of the fourth set, 7-4, but Ateneo refused to give up and fought back to make it a seesaw battle until the Lady Eagles surged at 21-19.

But Thai reinforcement Jeng Bualee made a service error and after Valdez scored on another hit to make it 22-20, the top Ateneo local hitter committed her own miscue off the serve. Another Ateneo error tied the count at 22.

The Lady Eagles actually went two-up again at 24-22 but Ferrer served into the net and Dindin Santiago scored on a hit before De Leon came through with that superb push and Santiago capped NU’s strong finish with another kill.

Earlier, Santo Tomas bucked the absence of guest player and former MVP Aiza Maizo as it downed Adamson, 25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 25-16, to clinch third place in their own side of a sudden death.

Pamela Lastimosa, Maika Ortiz and Carmela Tunay stepped up in the absence of Maizo as the troika fired 19, 16 and 12 hits, respectively, to complete the Tigresses’ 2-1 series win over the Lady Falcons.

“We really wanted to end the V-League with a win and we accomplished it,” said UST coach Odjie Mamon.

Lastimosa, sister of former St. Benilde standout Carlo, said they dedicated the win to Maizo.

“This win is for her (Maizo),” she said.

Maizo, who played college ball for UST, was forced to skip the sudden death match because she had to be with her nine-year old baby boy AJ.

“AJ is out of the hospital now and I guess it’s a double victory for us,” said Mamon.