Lady Bulldogs subdue Tigresses, nail No. 2

MANILA, Philippines - National U held off UST in a tight first-set duel, came from behind to snatch the second frame then dominated the third to carve out a 25-22, 25-23, 25-11 victory yesterday and gain the No. 2 spot in the Final Four of the Shakey’s V-League Season 12-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Bulldogs operated on their combination plays and running attacks anchored on Dindin Santiago-Manabat and bucked some erratic plays to subdue the Tigresses and complete a 73-minute sweep that primed them up for what could be the preview of the championship with the Ateneo Lady Eagles next Saturday.

NU improved to 5-1, next to unbeaten Ateneo’s 6-0 mark with the Lady Bulldogs settling for No. 2 in the crossover semis. But if they beat the Lady Eagles in three or four, the Bustillos-based school will snare the top spot.

“We committed a lot of errors,” said NU coach Roger Gorayeb, referring to their 26 miscues. “We can’t win games if we commit many mistakes.”

UST, which also made 27 errors, dropped to joint third with Far Eastern U at 4-2 with the two teams disputing the No. 3 seat also next Saturday.

Arellano, the reigning NCAA champion, is at 3-3 and hopes to force a playoff for the last semis berth with a victory over ousted St. Benilde next Sunday.

Santiago-Manabat uncorked a 13-hit game, including 10 on kills, while Myla Pablo added 11 points and Jaja Santiago and skipper Jorelle Singh came through with 10 markers apiece for the Lady Bulldogs, who overpowered the Tigresses, 37-23, in spikes and imposed their height advantage and produced nine blocks as against their rivals’ two.

University of the Philippines turned back St. Benilde, 18-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-19, to post its first win in six games while dealing the Lady Blazers their sixth straight setback in the league in the semis of the league sponsored by Shakey’s, presented by PLDT Home Ultera and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Put on pins and needles by the tough fighting UST side, 20-21, in the opening frame, the Lady Bulldogs took four of the last four points with Santiago-Manabat wrapping up the set with a running attack.

The Tigresses came out strong in the second, posting leads of 13-9 and 18-12 but cracked in the face of the Lady Bulldogs strong comeback. Santiago scored on a block to spark a five-hit NU run that closed the gap at 17-18.

Pam Lastimosa scored on a kill to make it a two-point game but the Lady Bulldogs took the next two points to draw level and won six of the next 10 points to steal the set.

The Tigresses never recovered from that meltdown and struggled in the third, enabling the Lady Bulldogs to race away early to leads of 15-8 and 20-10 en route to victory.

Carmela Tunay had an eight-hit game for UST, which also drew seven hits from Lastimosa and four from Jessey de Leon with top hitter Ennajie Laure held to just six markers by the solid NU defense upfront.

Meanwhile, the Arellano-La Salle-Dasmariñas game last Saturday will be shown on GMA News TV Channel 11 starting at 1 p.m. today with the UP-St. Benilde clash, being played at presstime, to be aired tomorrow, according to the organizing Sports Vision.