NU claims early lead with 2-0 start

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Dec 7th 2013

National University (NU) overshadowed a fighting but undersized University of the East (UE) all game long to claim the solo lead Saturday in the 76^th UAAP women’s volleyball tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs wreaked havoc atop the net behind the mammoth trio of sisters Dindin and Jaja Santiago and Mina Aganon to claim a 25-14, 25-22, 25-22, victory against the Lady Warriors at the San Juan Arena.

Dindin scattered 16 points with 14 hits and two blocks while Aganon and Jaja chipped in 13 and 11, respectively for the Lady Bulldogs, who rose to 2-0.

With NU’s towering frontline imposing its might early on, the Lady Bulldogs sat on a 23-13 lead to claim the opening set.

But the Lady Warriors, despite lacking the heft and ceiling to match NU, tenaciously stayed on the Lady Bulldogs tails, falling by only 11-14 midway into the second frame.

UE’s threat of an overturn though persisted until the 21-18 mark before the Lady Bulldogs repeatedly fed the Santiago sisters and Aganon upfront to reach set point.

Just like in the second set, the Lady Bulldogs maintained only a three-point spread against the determined Lady Warriors midway into the final canto. But errors slowly piled up on the defensive end and the Lady Warriors just couldn’t find a way to neutralize NU’s towers up top.

Sarina Bulan led UE with eight points while rookies Shaiya Adornado and Shaya Adorador combined for 15 markers for the Lady Warriors, who fell to 0-2.