MANILA, Philippines–National University (NU) cruised to a second straight victory in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament after dominating Ateneo, 25-23, 25-19, 25-15, on Wednesday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Alyssa Solomon dropped 12 points, 10 off attacks, as Vange Alinsug contributed 10 points to lift the Lady Bulldogs to a 2-0 start in their title-retention bid.

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“Talagang total team effort yung nangyari ngayon sa game. Hopefully, mag-improve pa yung team effort ng team sa mga next game namin,” NU coach Sherwin Meneses said.

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“Very happy po sa naging performance namin though marami pa rin kami talagang kailangan i-improve kanina tulad nga nung sinabi ni Lams na marami pa rin kaming unnecessary errors so siguro yun yung number one na kailangan namin trabahuhin tomorrow,” Solomon said.

Camila Lamina allowed NU to move efficiently with her 14 excellent sets.

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Aside from the back-and-forth in the opening frame, NU pretty much had the game in the bag and was ready to finish early, surging to a 15-9 advantage from a 4-0 run.

The Lady Bulldogs kept pummeling the Blue Eagles to push their lead to 18-10 as Sheena Toring scored back-to-back. Rookie Celine Marsh committed a net error but immediately got back the point the next play after finding an open spot on Ateneo’s floor.

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Ateneo used a video challenge for a block touch which was unsuccessful, 23-14, before Chami Maaya blocked Lyann de Guzman for the match point. Jihan Chuatico gave Ateneo its final point before Marsh unleashed a cross-court hit to secure the victory.

Ateneo absorbed a second consecutive loss in as many games after suffering a reverse sweep at the hands of Adamson last Sunday. AC Miner, Alexia Montoro and Lyann de Guzman all pitched in nine points for Ateneo.

The Lady Bulldogs seek to make it three in a row by facing the challenge by Far Eastern University (FEU) on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena after Ateneo looks for a breakthrough win opposite University of the Philippines (UP).

“Actually, today palang kami mag-start for FEU kasi syempre one game at a time kami, one point [at a time],” Meneses said as the Lady Tamaraws battle UP as of posting. “So, yung Ateneo talaga yung naka-focus ngayon pero after ng Ateneo, later pagaaralan namin mabuti yung FEU.”