Bulldogs protect volleyball dynasty, pull off five-peat

MANILA, Philippines —The dynasty of National University continues.

The National University Bulldogs won their fifth straight UAAP men’s volleyball championship after a dominant three-set victory over the Far Eastern University, 25-16, 28-26, 25-23, in Game 3 of the UAAP Season 87 finals Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Bulldogs are the lone team to achieve a five-peat in the Final Four era.

Leo Ordiales bit hard for the Bulldogs with 13 points on 10 attacks and three blocks. Rwenzmel Taguibolos chipped in 10 apiece, while Buds Buddin and Leo Aringo had nine each for NU.

In front of a crowd of 14,517, this is the seventh total championship for NU, which knocked off the tournament’s best elimination round team.

Following an easy win in the first set, NU took the second frame after a hard-fought period.

FEU actually had the set point, 24-23, after an attack error by the Bulldogs.

But errors simply became the torn on the side of the Tamaraws, as well as three straight attacks by Disquitado to grab the 28-26 NU win.

And, in the third set, FEU actually had the upper hand late, going up 21-19 after back-to-back kills by Luis Miguel.

But the Tamaraws would not be denied, as Buddin and Taguibolos, as well as errors by Miguel and Absin, pushed them ahead, 23-22.

A Miguel off-the-block attack kept FEU within striking distance, but a Miguel service error pushed NU to the championship point.

Bituin tried to rally the Tamaraws back, but Aringo’s push shot sealed the deal and the championship.

Aringo was later named Finals Most Valuable Player with averages of 8.7 points, 11.3 receptions and 4.3 digs.

The Bulldogs were also able to complete the reverse-sweep, winning the next two matches after dropping Game 1 of the finals.

Dryx Saavedra punched in 24 points for FEU in the losing effort. No other Tamaraw finished in double digits, as Luis Miguel provided the spark with eight markers. Chad Absin and Amet Bituin had six and four points, respectively.

This season, NU almost had the sweep in the volleyball tournaments, with their women’s and girls teams also winning the championship. But the boys’ division was ruled by University of Santo Tomas.

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