Jaja Santiago and Risa Sato led the charge as the Lady Bulldogs improved to 7-6 for fourth place, ending a stunning stretch of defeats that came after topping the first round with six victories in seven games.
The victory also put NU a win shy of a semis berth while eliminating University of the Philippines (5-8) and University of Santo Tomas (4-8) from the contention.
Only Adamson, with a 5-7 record, stands in the way of NU’s quest to catch the last Final Four bus.
NU needs to beat third-running Far Eastern University on Sunday to complete the Final Four cast. FEU clinched a semis berth the other day with a victory over Adamson.
NU took advantage of UE’s weak net defense by hammering down attacks at all angles courtesy of Santiago and Sato.
The 6-foot-4 Santiago exploded anew with 22 points built on 18 kills and three blocks while Sato fired 13 points.
The triumph, however, did not come on a silver platter with UE retaliating NU’s assault before losing steam at crunch time.
Roselyn Doria also made her presence felt for the Lady Bulldogs with four of the team’s nine blocks, while Jasmine Nabor contributed 41 excellent sets. (Kristel Satumbaga)
