DEFENDING champion National University secured the last twice-to-beat advantage in Pool E after a sweep of University of the East, 25-14, 25-20, 25-17, in the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship second round on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Bulldogs turned to the veteran trio of reigning MVP Alyssa Solomon, Bella Belen and Vange Alinsug to close the round-robin phase of the playoffs with back-to-back wins for a 2-1 win-loss record.
NU in transition
“Unti-unti nagiging mas stable na ‘yung sistema ni coach Sherwin (Meneses) so mas naa-adapt na rin kaya na-execute namin ng maayos ang naging preparation namin,” said NU assistant coach Karl Dimaculangan, who called the shots for the squad with mentor Sherwin Meneses still in Taiwan for a prior commitment.
Solomon finished with 11 points on nine kills, one kill block and an ace while Belen also had 11 markers built on five attacks, five aces and a kill block for the Lady Bulldogs, who peppered UE with 41 attack points and nine service winners.
Alinsug scored eight of her 10 points in the third set including the back-to-back kills to finish off UE.
NU will wait for the result of the match being played as of press time between De La Salle University, owner of the other Pool E incentive, and College of Saint Benilde to determine its seeding in the crossover quarters of the tournament backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, GCash, Chery Tiggo, F2 Logistics, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, R and B Milk Tea and Summit Water.
Quarterfinals action starts on Sunday.
The Lady Bulldogs were in full control of the first two sets. NU crushed any hopes of a Lady Warriors comeback in the third set, racing to a 17-7 advantage on its way to completing a dominating victory.
KC Cepada scored nine points, Jelai Gajero added four markers while Casiey Dongallo was held to a personal-low one point after only playing in the third set as UE wrapped the second round with a 1-2 card.
The top two teams in Pools E and F will battle the third and fourth-ranked squads from the opposite pools in the quarterfinals for spots in the knockout semifinals.
The gold medal showdown is a best-of-three series while the battle for bronze is a one-game affair.
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