MANILA -- National University’s (NU) Mervic Mangui went on to a scoring rampage as the debuting team in the 7th Shakey’s V-League third conference outlasted College of St. Benilde at the Arena in San Juan.

In Sunday night’s close contest, the Lady Bulldogs proved they are not pushovers for now as it hacked out a thrilling see-saw victory, 25-15, 23-25, 25-23, 18-25, and 15-12 with 1,686 people in attendance.

The two-hour tiff also allowed three members of the Sampaloc-based squad to register double digits with Maricar Nepomuceno tallying 20 points, including five blocks while Elaine Sagun and guest player Denise Santiago posted 16 and 11 hits, respectively.

The Bulldogs and the Lady Blazers tried to put cuffs on each other’s momentum but NU came steadier in the last few minutes of the game, leveraging on improved service attacks.

NU was drafted to replace grandslam winner University of Santo Tomas after it begged off participation to allow players to rest in time for the UAAP volleyball wars next semester.

Skipper Giza Yumang paced the losing effort of Benilde with 18 points, and an ace service while guest player Zhairmaine Velez added 10 hits. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)