Bulldogs maul Wildcats, advance to quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines - National University notched its third straight shutout victory, outclassing erstwhile unbeaten National College of Business and Arts, 25-16, 25-14, 25-23, to join idle Emilio Aguinaldo College into the quarterfinals of the Spikers’ Turf Season 1-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Complementing its power game with superb blocking and solid serving, the Bulldogs needed just 68 minutes to clip the Wildcats and match the Generals’ strong start in Group A of the two-division tournament presented by PLDT Home Ultera.

Francis Saura scored 11 hits, including four on blocks, Bryan Bagunas and Kim Malabunga each fired 10 points and Eldrige Capal added eight markers as the Bulldogs disposed of the Wildcats the way they did to the Mapua Cardinals and the UE Warriors.

Despite the loss, NCBA remained in the hunt for the third quarters berth with a 2-1 card.

The Bulldogs produced 32 hits and spiked their superb all-around game with 10 blocks and nine aces against their rivals’ 25-attack, three-block and three-ace effort.

Earlier, St. Benilde came up with 19 blocks as it warded off Arellano U, 25-17, 20-25, 25-18, 25-18, to close in on the second quarterfinal berth in Group B.

Guest player Francis Basilan and Ron Jordan combined for nine blocks as the Blazers frustrated the Chiefs’ hitters with a solid net defense that anchored their one-hour, 38-minute victory, their second against a loss.

That tied CSB with UP at second while dashing the hopes of Chiefs, who stumbled to their third straight defeat.

“Our service reception improved a lot and it helped that our net defense was good in this game,” said CSB coach Arnold Laniog, whose wards will be facing Taft neighbor La Salle on Monday and reigning UAAP champion Ateneo on Aug. 12 for a shot at the quarters.

“We’re playing in the Spikers’ Turf not just for the experience. We’re here to try to win games and get a strong a performance,” said Laniog.

Arellano actually had more spikes, 43-42, pumping in a series of kills in the second but failed to sustain their attacks when the Blazers toughened up in the next two frames.

Skipper Johnvic De Guzman topscored for CSB with 20 hits while Racmade Etrone added 12 markers and Jordan and Basilan ended up with 10 and nine hits, respectively.