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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Friday, October 13, 2017
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MANILA – National University drew first blood in the Premier V-League Collegiate Conference best-of-three finals, beating Far Eastern University 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24.
Lady Bulldogs may clinch its third consecutive Collegiate Conference trophy if it scores a repeat victory over Lady Tamaraws in Game 2 of the series on Saturday evening.
During Game 1 on Wednesday at the San Juan Arena, Jaja Santiago led the way with 23 points – 15 attacks, four blocks and four service aces – while Risa Sato and Audrey Paran added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for NU.
Both teams exchanged leads early in the opening set, leading to a deadlock at 22-all following a hit by Lady Tamaraws’ Jerrilli Malabanan, but Lady Bulldogs turned to Santiago for 3 straight points to close the set.
After losing the second set, Lady Bulldogs bounced back in the third with a 13-7 start on hits by Sato. Lady Tamaraws tried to catch up to within 17-23 but conversions from Jorelle Singh and Santiago capped the third set.
Lady Bulldogs had a fiery start in the fourth set and was headed to an easy win with a 19-13 lead but Lady Tamaraws clawed its way back to tie the score at 24-all – and then back-to-back errors by FEU handed the win to NU.
“I wanted us to win convincingly,” said Lady Bulldogs head coach Babes Castillo. “I think the girls haven’t found the right balance between being relaxed and being assertive. Developing that is high on our priority list.”
Czarina Carandang top-scored with 17 points while Jeanette Villareal added 15 markers for Lady Tamaraws, which played without Negrense Bernadeth Pons and Kyla Atienza in the series opener./PN
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