Reigning women’s champion University of Santo Tomas (UST) ended a two-game skid by
defeating National University (NU) in straight sets, 27-25, 25-14, 25-12, on Wednesday in the 73rd UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

NU was only in contention against UST in the first set, failing to match the intensity shown by the Tigresses who found their rhythm in the succeeding sets.

The win erased the memory of the España-based spikers’ back-to-back losses against La Salle and Ateneo.

Veterans Maruja Banaticla, Aiza Maizo, Maika Ortiz and Judy Anne Caballejo combined for 51 points to lead the Tigresses back to their winning ways. Team skipper Banaticla paced UST with 18 points.

“We needed to get back to winning after two straight losses. That’s why we made a lot of adjustments with our game," said UST Coach Cesael Delos Santos, who added that his players were hounded by various injuries in their last two games.

Reigning MVP Maizo is nursing back spasms and a sprained right ankle, while setter Rhea Dimaculangan is bothered by a shoulder injury.

The victory also strengthened UST’s hold of the No. 2 spot (7-2) behind the 7-1 card of pacesetting La Salle, which had one of its won games forfeited by the UAAP board after two Lady Archers were found to have played in another tournament.

The loss, NU’s fifth after nine games, dropped the Lady Bulldogs to fifth place behind Ateneo, which posted a 25-10, 25-18, 25-16 win over University of the Philippines for a 5-4 slate.