NATIONAL U struck first in Game One of the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball finals, subduing La Salle in four sets, 25-17, 25-21, 13-25, 25-17, on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Presumptive league MVP Bella Belen had all fronts covered for the defending champions with a triple-double of 19 points, 15 digs, and 10 receptions.
Even as Alyssa Solomon struggled to find her footing in the series opener with just nine markers, it was junior winger Vange Alinsug’s game-high 21 attacks that backed Belen’s explosive scoring night.
A game of runs unraveled from the second frame onwards, starting with a 10-2 Lady Bulldogs run from a 12-14 deficit to tighten their grip of the series opener.
Then came a sudden flip of the switch in Set 3, as Angel Canino and the rest of the Lady Spikers unleashed 10 unanswered points to overturn a 7-8 deficit. It wound up as a herculean 17-6 blitz where Canino dished out eight markers to keep the green-and-white alive.
That would be La Salle’s last stand, however, as NU held fort in the fourth frame to draw first blood in the best-of-three series.
The Lady Bulldogs now have one foot in the door of a successful title defense they failed to complete back in Season 85 when the Lady Spikers took the crown back from Jhocson to Taft.
If so, it would also be the blue-and-gold's fifth women’s volleyball crown after reigning supreme in Seasons 16 (1954), 19 (1957), 84 (2022) and 86 (2024).
Having won thrice in a row over La Salle since last season’s second round play, National U carried its strong run of form entering the finals to make it four head-to-head wins in succession against its modern-day rivals.
The Lady Bulldogs have now won eight of their 14 matches against the Lady Spikers since Belen & Co.’s arrival in the collegiate ranks three years ago.
NU’s first crack to bag back-to-back trophies will be in three days’ time come Game 2, 5 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
National U’s historical edge
Over the last two decades of available data, La Salle has a 2-4 record in the finals when it loses Game 1.
The only occasions it did pull off a reverse-series sweep to win the championship were in Seasons 71 (2009) against University of Santo Tomas and 74 (2012) versus archrival Ateneo.
Conversely, the Lady Spikers' four finals losses in 20 years all came as a result of losing the series opener.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
