Four-peat-seeking National University displayed the true heart of a champion in gutting out a hard-fought 15-25, 25-23, 25-17, 13-25, 15-12, victory over gritty University of Santo Tomas to take Game 1 of the 2025 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Preseason Unity Cup best-of-three Finals Saturday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.  

Despite getting pummeled in the fourth set and trailing by two in the last stretch of the deciding frame, the Lady Bulldogs showed grace under pressure as they unleashed a closing 5-0 barrage to stun the Tigresses in their championship rematch.

Rookie Sam Cantada scored 18 points, built on 16 kills and two aces, in her return from a stint with the national team to lead the still unbeaten NU to its ninth straight win.         

“Our mindset is to reach our goal. We all want to take this game,” said Cantada.

Chams Maaya was a dominant force at the net, accounting for eight of the Lady Bulldogs’ 13 kill blocks. Her last denial against Angge Poyos sealed the win that took two hours and 39 minutes.

Maaya finished with 14 points while Kaye Bombita and Vange Alinsug had 11 and nine markers, respectively, for NU, which can extend its reign with another win in Game 2 next Saturday, November 15, at the same venue.

A deciding Game 3, if necessary, is set on November 19.

The Lady Bulldogs barked back in the second and third sets after surrendering the opening frame. The Tigresses roared back in the fourth in dominating fashion to force a decider.

UST created some breathing room in the nip-and-tuck fifth set, 12-10, off a Regina Jurado kill.   

Bombita answered with an off the block kill that triggered the finishing run.

The Tigresses were called for a rotational fault in the next play. Abegail Pono scored a kill, Poyos was called for an overreach that sent NU to match point before Maaya’s defensive gem.    

“I just told them we have to focus on the process and not the result. Because every time we do that, we tend to forget a lot of steps and we’re always in a hurry, which causes problems,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Regine Diego said.  

“Once we tried to focus everything by steps, especially our passes, then it got better in the end.”

The Tigresses saw their seven-game winning streak snapped following the collapse in the first game of their return to the finals following a runner-up finish in 2023.  

Poyos scored 20 of her 21 points off kills, Jurado had 12 markers while Marga Altea and Xyza Gula chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for UST.