Lady Bulldogs maul Lady Falcons, seal finals rematch vs Lady Spikers

MANILA, Philippines — The NU Lady Bulldogs are headed back to the UAAP women’s volleyball finals as they bucked a slow start against the Adamson Lady Falcons to win their semis clash, 22-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

Reigning MVP Bella Belen uncorked a career-high 29 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs past Adamson and help the defending champions arrange a rematch with the DLSU Lady Spikers in the best-of-three finals beginning Sunday.

The Lady Bulldogs staved off a gutsy Adamson side that looked to bury the Lady Bulldogs in a 0-2 hole when they clawed back from seven points down to tie the match, 17-all, with a 13-6 punctuated by a Lucille Almonte cross-court hit in Set 2.

But Belen scored back-to-back points for NU to shift some momentum back to the defending champions.

The stymied comeback seemed to seize the spirit out of the Lady Falcons, who were sluggish in the third and fourth sets en route to lopsided losses.

Sheena Toring slammed the door shut on Adamson with a quick attack to set up the grudge match between NU and La Salle.

Despite the win, Belen lamented the slow start and underscored their need to adjust before the championship round.

"We're happy po na nanalo po kami this game. Pero yung start po kasi namin, hindi ganon kaganda. I think marami pa po kaming dapat i-improve para pagdating sa finals, maayos po yung laro namin and smooth po," said Belen.

Alyssa Solomon picked up Player of the Game honors with 21 points off 17 attacks, three aces and one block.

Kate Santiago paced Aadamson with 15 markers. Trisha Tubu was dragged down to a season-low outing of six points.

While NU heads to the finals on a seven-game winning streak, Adamson finishes third place — their best result since UAAP Season 76, where they ended up fourth.