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Filipina aces stay in hunt in Arizona Golf Classic

MANILA, Philippines — The National University Bulldogs flexed their muscles and swept the University of Santo Tomas Golden Spikers, 25-17, 26-24, 25-19, in Game 1 of the best-of-three UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball finals Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

They are now within a win away from their fo urth straight championship.

Nico Almendras and Buds Buddin carried the load for NU with 16 points each. The fo rmer had 19 excellent receptions, while the latter had nine.

Owa Retamar facilitated the offense with 2 4 excellent sets.

The Golden Spikers tried to mount a comeback after the huge second set loss, keeping in step with their opponents and tying the third set up at 11.

However, the Bulldogs started to heat up as they slowly pulled away.

The lead grew to as much as seven points, 23-16, after a block by Retamar on Gboy de Vega.

UST attempted to claw back, but a drop ball by Almendras ended the set and the match.

This is NU’s first win over UST this season.

Josh Ybanez had 11 points in the losing effort for UST. Paul Colinares and Sherwin Umandal chipped in nine apiece.

The Bulldogs’ blocking stopped UST’s usual offensive explosions as the team rec orded 12 block points.

The Sampaloc-based squad will try to clinch their four peat on Wednesday, 2 p.m., at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

MANILA, Philippines – Clariss Guce sizzled with a two-eagle feat, propelling her to a remarkable six-under 65 and moving within three strokes off American Dana Fall midway through the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona Friday (Saturday Manila time).

Harnessing her raw power, Guce showcased her prowess, marking a pivotal moment in her career after enduring a series of challenging seasons on the Epson Tour. She eagled two of the par-71 TPC Scottsdale’s Champions course’s long holes and shot five birdies to negate her three-bogey mishap, resulting in a 31-34 card.

Counting her opening 67, Guce assembled a 10-under 132 as she firmly secured her position in third place, trailing behind Fall, who shot a 66 for a 129, two strokes ahead of Chinese Siyun Liu, who holed out with an eagle for a 63 and a 131.

Meanwhile, Pauline del Rosario also bolstered her bid with a 67 for joint fourth with five others at 133, while ICTSI teammate Dottie Ardina carded a second straight 68 for a share of 14th at 136, seven strokes off Fall in the $400,000 championship.

While the three Filipinas strongly made it to the weekend play of the 72-hole event, Abby Arevalo, whose campaign is also supported by the world’s leading port operator, faltered, limping with a 77 after an impressive 69 for a 146, missing the cut by four.

Guce actually grappled with her driver, hitting just five fairways but she pulled off a number of superb recovery shots. Despite missing six greens, she registered 25 putts to put herself in title contention.

She kicked off her second round bid with an eagle on the first hole then gunned down birdies on Nos. 5, 6 and 8. A bogey on No. 10 momentarily stalled her charge but she re-ignited her charge with a stirring sequence of birdie-birdie-eagle from No. 11, briefly threatening the lead with a running 12-under output.

However, bogeys in the next two holes dropped her to third.

Del Rosario extended her streak of consecutive cuts made to six tournaments. Her bogey-less opening round of 66 set the tone for another impressive round capped off by a dazzling display of birdies in the second round.

She birdied Nos. 1 and 3 then came out of a two-birdie, two-bogey stint from No. 7 with back-to-back birdies from No. 17, spiking her round with a sterling 24-putt showing.

Buoyed by a recent joint runner-up finish in Casino Del Sol Golf Classic, Ardina also carded a bogey-less 68 in the first round then put on a stellar display of accuracy both off the tee and onto the greens to shoot four birdies against a bogey.

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