National University dispatched the struggling University of the East, 25-11, 25-20, 25-13 for its fourth consecutive win in the UAAP Season 84 women's volleyball tournament, Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
NU led by as much as 11 points in the deciding set, 23-12, before Dea Villamor's service error put the Lady Bulldogs at match-point. France Ronquillo, who scored five points in the set, ended the match with an ace.
“Siguro yun pa rin, same naman kami e. Every team naman na makakalaban namin nagpe-prepare kami nang maayos so stick lang ulit kami doon,” said Lady Bulldogs head coach Karl Dimaculangan, who was the head coach of the Lady Red Warriors during Season 82. “Paulit ulit lang naman din yung ginagawa namin, yun lang.”
Sheena Toring scored 13 points off eight attacks, three aces, and two blocks while Ivy Lacsina converted 12 attacks for 13 points to lead NU to the top of Season 84 with a 4-0 start.
The match lasted for just an hour and 19 minutes.
Mhicaela Belen pounced on the defenseless Lady Red Warriors as early as the opener, firing four consecutive aces to give the Lady Bulldogs a massive 16-4 advantage in the first set. The Lady Bulldogs led by as much as 14 points before taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
UE showed more fight in the second set, but Belen and Ivy Lacsina took the lead late to put NU at the top. Despite committing 11 errors, the Lady Bulldogs dominated in attack points with 19 compared to the Lady Red Warriors' seven.
Belen, who sat out the latter part of the third set, still finished with 11 points – scoring four of the team’s 11 aces – to go along with 11 excellent digs and eight excellent receptions. Meanwhile, Jennifer Nierva came up with 12 excellent receptions and 11 excellent digs.
On the other hand, no player from UE reached the double-digit mark with Ja Lana finishing with just nine points laced with 10 excellent receptions and seven excellent digs as the Lady Red Warriors dropped to 0-4.
The Lady Red Warriors missed the services of Apple Lingay, who hurt her right knee following a bad fall in the first set of UE’s five-set loss to Far Eastern University last Tuesday.
NU will gear up for its fifth consecutive win against UST on Saturday at 12:00 PM while UE will try to score its first win against La Salle at 4:00 PM on the same day. (Dennis Lachica, Sportsmanila Photojournalist)