UAAP men’s volleyball: Bulldogs roll past Maroons for 7th straight win

MANILA, Philippines – The National University Bulldogs keep on rolling.
 
The defending champions punched their seventh straight win in the UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball tournament after sweeping the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 25-23, 25-22, 25-16, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. 

Nico Almendras led the Bulldogs with 19 points in the straight-sets victory to open the second round of the tourney. 

NU needed to take the first two sets by the skin of their teeth, as UP just would not go down easily. 

In the second set, the Bulldogs led by five, 23-18, thanks to an attack by Almendras. 

True to their name, the Fighting Maroons fought back and cut the lead to two, 21-23, with a kill by Angelo Lagando. 

Leo Aringo, then, punched in a timely kill to push NU to set point. 

Lagando kept the Diliman-based squad alive, 22-24, but his serve came up short to hand the Bulldogs the second set, 25-22. 

In the third set, NU showed its championship pedigree, dominating their lowly opponents from start to finish. 

A block on Lagando ended the match, 25-16.

Jade Disquitado added 13 points, while Aringo chipped in 11 markers for the Bulldogs. 

Lagando led UP with 14 points, while Louis Gamban powered in 12 in the losing effort. 

The Fighting Maroons are still without a win in eight games, while NU rose to 7-1. 

In the second game, the Ateneo Blue Eagles returned to the win column after escaping the UST Golden Spikers, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23, 26-28, 15-9. 

Jian Salarzon exploded for 32 points in the thriller, while Ken Batas added 25.

With Ateneo needing just a set to complete the win, the Golden Spikers, led by Josh Ybanez, clawed out the win in the fourth set as they took it a point at a time. 

A 1-2 play by Dux Yambao and a tip by Paul Colinares led UST to the fifth set, 28-26.

The Blue Eagles were able to keep a comfortable distance in the final frame, as Salarzon and Batas teamed up for the win.

With the Katipunan-based crew up by five, 14-9, Sherwin Umandal’s attack came up short, ending the contest. 

Ybanez had another herculean effort for UST, finishing with 33 points in the loss. Gboy De Vega and Colinares had 18 and 10,