NATIONAL University scraped past La Salle, 26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 28-26, in the UAAP men's volleyball tournament on Sunday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Bryan Bagunas had 18 points including two service aces as the Bulldogs scored their ninth win in 10 matches.
Ateneo is in second with an 8-2 record, followed by Far Eastern University at 7-2.
Rjay Onia and Raymark Woo scored 16 points each, while Cris Dumago added 14 for the Green Spikers, who dropped to 3-6.
Meanwhile, University of Sto. Tomas recovered from a poor start to beat University of the East, 22-25, 27-25, 25-8, 25-9.
Arnold Bautista led UST with 15 points.
Joshua Umandal scored 14 and Jayvee Sumagaysay added 12 for the Tigers, who improved to a 4-6 tally while keeping UE winless in nine matches.