WATCH: Students join peach ribbon protest vs PNoy

The night cap of the Saturday quadruple header proved to be a treat as the Golden Tigresses edged their UAAP rivals in a hotly contested affair to kickstart Pool B hostilities.

The Lady Warriors opened up the preseason action against Mapua University where they outlasted their NCAA counterparts in a five-set thriller, 31-33, 25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12.

The young but tall and talented Nationals outdueled the Sealions in a tense first-set skirmish, dominated the second then bounced back from early three-point deficits in the third before withstanding the Sealions’ own stretch-run rally to complete the straight-set victory after rallying from two sets down to stun the Cignal HD Spikers at the start of the round robin semis last Thursday.

Streaking PGJC-Navy and a resurgent National University-Sta. Elena clash Saturday in a key match for at least a crack at the second finals berth.

But the Sealions needed to overcome the odds, including an early injury scare to Ron Rosales and a pesky VNS-One Alicia side that just wouldn’t give up, before pounding out the straight-set victory to fan their drive in the round-robin Final Four.