NU clinches twice-to-beat with reverse sweep of Ateneo

National University clinched the final twice-to-beat advantage for the Final Four after completing a reverse sweep of Ateneo de Manila University, 21-25, 28-30, 25-14, 25-13, 25-13, on Saturday in the UAAP Season 85 women's volleyball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Michaela Belen posted 26 points on top of 15 excellent digs and 19 excellent receptions for the Lady Bulldogs' sixth straight win which ended their elimination standings at 11-3. Alyssa Solomon added 25 points of her own while Camilla Lamina had 17 excellent sets.

"We're very happy kasi nakuha na namin 'yung twice-to-beat this season. Despite that, meron pa rin kaming kailangan i-improve sa game ngayon which is 'yung pag-start namin dapat maayos kasi 'yung first and second set hindi kami ganung katutok sa game, kaya po ganito siguro ang kinalabasan," said Belen in a post-game conference.

("We're very happy because we got the twice-to-beat this season. Despite that, we still have things to improve from today's game which is we should start stronger because the first and second set, we weren't that focused on the game. That's why that was the result.")

Michaela Belen and Camilla Lamina share their thoughts on clinching the playoff bonus @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/yUDLLDUngi

— JK Carandang (@jk_carandang) April 29, 2023

Vanie Gandler listed 20 points while Faith Nisperos added 17 points to cap the Blue Eagles' luckless campaign. This is the first time since Season 71 that the Katipunan-based squad missed the Final Four as they ended with a 4-10 card. This also tied the blue-and-white's worst record in 19 years as they also had the same win-loss record in 2004.

The Lady Bulldogs will now have to wait for the result of University of Santo Tomas and Adamson University's respective matches to determine which team they will face in the semifinals. Both UST and Adamson have 9-4 cards.

Earlier, the NU men's team completed a sweep of the elimination round after defeating Ateneo, 25-11, 28-26, 16-25, 25-23, to outright book their eighth straight Finals appearance.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News