Lady Bulldogs eye 4th win vs. UST

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Jan 4th 2014

Powerhouse National University (NU) doesn’t mind staying behind defending champion De La Salle University as of the moment.

But falling to third place – and on the shadows of rookie-laden Ateneo de Manila University – is unacceptable.

So the Lady Bulldogs’ first order of the year? Demolish an unpredictable University of Santo Tomas (UST) squad to jumpstart their campaign on a high note as action resumes today in the 76th UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at the San Juan Arena.

NU (3-1) vies for its fourth win against the Tigresses in the main game at 4 p.m., with the Lady Bulldogs raring to solidify their hold of second place behind the league-leading Lady Spikers.
Currently tied with Ateneo for the second spot, the Lady Bulldogs entered the holiday break with a 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 ripping of Far Eastern University (FEU) last December 15.

Twin tower sisters Dindin and Jaja Santiago led NU with double-digit outputs of 20 and 12 points, respectively as the Lady Bulldogs methodically clobbered FEU’s relatively smaller frontline up top.

UST for its part is aching to rebound from its 21-25, 18-25, 18-25 loss to Adamson University last December 18.

It was an eyesore game for the Tigresses who gave up 28 error points to the Lady Falcons.

A win by the Tigresses will put them in a possible tie with NU and Ateneo if either or both the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Eagles loss their assignments today. UST is currently in a three-way logjam with FEU and Adamson at 2-2.

For NU, the key is to let the Santiago sisters shadow UST’s vertically challenged hitters while thriving on its receiving game.

Obviously undersized against the Lady Bulldogs’ frontline, the Tigresses can make do with their lack of height by tightening their floor defense and patiently executing combination attacks to confuse the NU blockers.

The game will air live on Studio 23, BALLS HD 167 and uaapsports.tv with a same day replay at 8 p.m. on BALLS SkyCable channel 34/ Destiny Cable channel 36.