UST survives NU scare in UAAP women's volleyball

University of Santo Tomas survived National University's gallant challenge to hack out a thrilling 22-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 17-15 in the 73rd UAAP women's volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan. On the brink of suffering a stunning upset at the hands of the underdog yet improving Lady Bulldogs, the defending champion Tigresses capitalized on two crucial errors by their rivals before Aiza Maizo ended the two-hour match with a kill to seal UST's win. With the win, UST joined La Salle on top of the standings with a perfect 6-0 slate. The match was considered as a warm-up for their upcoming face-off on Wednesday – the last day of the first round. The Lady Archers blasted University of the East, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21, in the curtain raiser.

Sophomore Abigail Marano had 14 points while veteran Jacqueline Alarca added 13 points for La Salle. UST actually trailed a set, then shrugged off a late NU rally in the fourth set to force a winner-take-all fifth frame. The Tigresses, who wasted an 8-4 lead, allowed Cai Nepumuceno to lead a spirited NU comeback. A Carmina Aganon hit put the Lady Bulldogs ahead, 15-14. But Nepumuceno failed to secure the winning point when her service attempt hit the top of the net. UST's Maru Banaticla then scored a service ace after NU libero Jennylyn Reyes made a key error on the return that made it 15-15. From there, UST scored the last two points, with Maizo finishing the match with a booming spike from the backline as the España-based squad won their 18th consecutive UAAP game dating back to last year. "I guess the break affected our play, because our lineup became complete just two days ago," said UST coach Cesael Delos Santos. "We struggled all game long but I'm still happy because we survived." Maizo, the leading Most Valuable Player contender, finished with 26 points, Banaticla added 13 while Maika Ortiz scored 11 points. Nepumuceno scored 27 points for the Lady Bulldogs, who fell to 3-4 but is assured of the school's best record after a long while. – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV