NU Girl Bulldogs have fun after profitable the UAAP Season 86 girls’s volleyball championship with a sweep of UST Tigresses. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.internet
Alyssa Solomon slid from the again row and knelt earlier than establishing Bella Belen for an authoritative cross courtroom hit, bringing the Nationwide College Girl Bulldogs some extent away from collaring the UAAP Season 86 girls’s volleyball match.
The Girl Bulldogs finally accomplished their chase for redemption by defeating the College of Santo Tomas Tigresses 25-23, 23-25, 27-25, 25-16, earlier than 22,515 screaming souls on the Mall of Asia Enviornment on Wednesday evening.
“My mindset earlier than the sport was to provide my greatest. It was now or by no means,’’ stated Alyssa Solomon, the Finals MVP after they swept the Tigresses within the second recreation of their best-of-three championship showdown.
HIGHLIGHTS: UAAP Season 86 volleyball Finals NU vs UST Recreation 2
Solomon went full throttle with 27 factors constructed round 20 assaults on high of 4 blocks and three aces in an all-around efficiency that their rivals surprisingly discovered no reply.
Belen, who was named season MVP earlier, delivered 19 factors, 16 of them kills, whereas serving to her staff defend their facet of the ground with 11 digs and 9 receptions.
“We knew we can’t be complacent towards UST. Our feelings have been excessive as a result of all our exhausting work bore fruit,’’ stated Belen, shedding tears of pleasure together with her teammates after Sheena Toring scored the championship level off the block.
READ: UAAP: NU hushes UST’s Yellow Sea with dominant Finals win
It was the second title of the Girl Bulldogs in three seasons, redeeming themselves from a missed championship reverse La Salle final 12 months. The Girl Bulldogs captured their fourth trophy within the match total.
“We’ve a stable character. If they are saying that they are going to bounce again, they are going to by no means cease till they obtain it,’’ stated NU coach Miguel Norman.
With their fiercest warrior—Angge Poyos—injured as a consequence of a sprained proper ankle in Recreation 1, the Tigresses appeared wounded as properly, dropping one other championship after the one which obtained away in Season 81 towards Ateneo.
NU Girl Bulldogs’ Alyssa Solomon with former NU star Jaja Santiago after profitable the UAAP Season 86 girls’s volleyball championship. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIREr.internet
Poyos was fielded within the first set and performed briefly within the third body, leaving hitters Jonna Perdido, Xyza Gula, Regina Jurado and center blocker Em Banagua to fill the void.
“There have been a variety of ups and downs throughout the season, however they vowed to combat till the tip,’’ stated Norman.
Erin Pangilinan palmed a fast assault on the heart and Belen’s energy tip pushed the Girl Bulldogs to a five-point benefit, prompting UST to interrupt the rally with a timeout.
Jurado and Banagua orchestrated the fightback because the Tigresses mounted a run of their very own to even up issues at 20 earlier than Belen once more took it upon herself.
WATCH: The NU Girl Bulldogs sing their hymn after a tantalizing championship win in Recreation 2 of the #UAAPSeason86 girls’s volleyball finals. | @MeloFuertesINQ pic.twitter.com/ZPmKzbIncN
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Belen’s off-speed spike stopped the bleeding for NU and Solomon quashed the hopes of their rivals within the opening set with three consecutive strikes.
The Tigresses set the tone within the second set and appeared headed to knotting the depend after Solomon miscalculated her assault, 19-15, in UST’s favor.
Toring rose to the event and lower it down to 2 with a pair of down-the-line smashes plus a block on Gula.
However Perdido and Cassie Carballo steadied the Tigresses with an excellent off-the-block spike and a push that confused the Girl Bulldogs as they weathered Solomon’s highly effective incursions.
Gula then punched a magnificently tossed projectile at set level, resetting the match after two frames.
Regardless of UST seizing management by the prowess of Gula, the Girl Bulldogs managed to steal the third set away on sheer need and endurance.
UST Tigresses and NU Girl Bulldogs meet at heart courtroom after the UAAP Season 86 girls’s volleyball finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.internet
They erased a four-point deficit with Solomon and Belen countering Gula’s gallantry and eventually led on Belen’s off-the-block smash, 26-25, sending the NU facet of the gang in pandemonium.
Gula soared for an additional assault, however Toring was there to deflect the potential game-tying hit at set level.
READ: UAAP: Bella Belen praises NU crowd inside ‘QPav-like’ Araneta
The Girl Bulldogs have been on level from thereon, zooming forward to an 11-6 lead within the fourth body as they contained any type of counter-offensive.
Solomon’s assault blunder slashed NU’s benefit to a few, however the Tigresses squandered the chance to cut it down additional on successive errors by Jurado, Perdido and Carballo.
Smelling blood, the Girl Bulldogs got here again to life with Alinsug, Toring and Solomon exchanging firepower earlier than Belen went to work one final time with a tip and a crosscourt hit, bringing them to the championship level.
Toring struck the ultimate smash of the season off the block, emptying the NU bench as they hugged, cried and celebrated below the glare of the intense lights and their legion followers inside the world.
