In a rare early meeting between the country’s most famed rivals, the De La Salle University Lady Spikers debuted a revamped roster to much success after handling the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles, 25-14, 25-17, 16-25, 25-19, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Lady Spikers throttled the Lady Eagles in the first sets picking apart Ateneo’s back line and putting up a quick double-digit lead. La Salle pulled away in the second set after the Lady Eagles gave away a wave of errors that brought the Lady Spikers to a 22-16 lead.
Ateneo fought back in the third set, building a 21-15 advantage and fending off a late La Salle comeback. Coming from a deflating stretch in the third set, the Lady Spikers returned to their methodical ways in the fourth set, slowly building their lead and feeding off Ateneo miscues.
“Hindi naman madaling kalaban ang Ateneo. It’s the first game, naging pabor lang sa amin ‘yung lahat ng situation, kaya siguro kami na nanalo,” said La Salle head coach Ramil De Jesus.
Graduating captain Des Cheng topped the Lady Spikers with 13 points to go with 14 excellent receptions and nine digs. Fourth-year winger May Luna and rookie Jolina Dela Cruz each tallied 11 markers.
Kat Tolentino was the lone Lady Eagle in double-digits as Ateneo combined for just 28 attack points.
La Salle (1-0) goes for their second win against Adamson University (0-1) on Saturday. Ateneo (0-1) tries to recover against University of Santo Tomas (1-0) on Wednesday. Both matches will be played at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Scores
DLSU (3) – Cheng 13, Dela Cruz 11, Luna 11, Ogunsanya 10, Cobb 8, Ipac 4, Tiamzon 2, Clemente 0, Alba 0, Saga (L)
ADMU (1) – Tolentino 16, De Leon 8, Samonte 7, Madayag 5, Gaston 3, Maraguinot 2, Gandler 1, Wong 1, Raagas 0, Gequillana (L)
