NU Lady Bullpups nab Rebisco Volleyball League championship

NU Lady Bullpups nab Rebisco Volleyball League championship

by rick olivares

For a moment, the De La Salle Lipa Green Chevrons looked like they were going to turn the match on its head. But you know the saying in the vernacular… “pinatikim lang”?  The Nazareth School of National University Lady Bullpups stamped their class and talent on the match and crushed the Batangas-based six in the third and fourth sets to claim the first ever Rebisco Volleyball League Girls 18 and Under championship, 25-23, 24-26, 25-14, 25-12 at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.

The first two sets of the much anticipated finals between long-time high school power, La Salle Lipa, and NSNU, the new power rising from Sampaloc, Manila were exactly what everyone expected – taught and closely-fought thrillers.

Come the third set, it looked like it would be more of the same as Lipa setter Janel Maraguinot’s serves kept them a step ahead of the Lady Bullpups, 4-3. But two consecutive blocks by NSNU’s tall frontline of Ivy Lacsina, Alyssa Solomon, and Faith Nisperos and a receiving error by Lipa saw the Lady Bullpups take the lead for good, 8-4. NSNU setter Joyme Cagande made sure to feed her tall teammates and the wall and the towering spikes ended any threat from DLSL.

NSNU’s Faith Nisperos led her team with 17 points.

Said NSNU head coach Raymond Castillo after the win, “Sometimes, we have this tendency to coast a bit because the team knows they have talent. That is what we have been trying to fix that they play consistently. We saw how they raised the level of their game in the last two sets.”

“We gave our best,” explained DLSL head coach Ronwald Kris Dimaculangan. “NU showed why they are a good team – when challenged, they raised the level of our game. We have a young team and we hope the new players will learn a lot from this. But we are happy with what we achieved given we are in a rebuilding phase.”

Lady Bullpup Ivy Lacsina and Hope Christian High School’s Ethan Arce were named the Best Middle Blockers. Awarded as the Best Outside Attackers were NSNU’s Alyssa Solomon and La Salle’s Mirgie Bautista. Three other Green Chevrons were also feted awards including Alleiah Malaluan who was named Best Opposite Attacker; an award she has won for the last three seasons (including the last two Shakey’s Girls Tournaments). Her teammate, Janel Maraguinot, was named the tournament’s Best Setter for the fourth straight year while Reign Lumbera was named the Best Libero.

Faith Nisperos of NSNU took home the Most Valuable Player award.