The Lady Spikers did not let their usual slow start, and a controversial miscounted point hinder them from demolishing a fiery UST squad, 25-23, 27-25, 25-17 at the San Juan Arena.
La Salle powered through uncharacteristic errors early in the first two sets and frustrated UST’s hitters with their superior blocking and spiking. The first had the Spikers leading early in the set, 8-3, before giving multiple errors that led to UST tying the set late, 15-15. DLSU then cleaned up their game and ran past the Tigresses for the win.
The Tigresses broke through in the second set, taking a 16-11 advantage into the second technical timeout before the Lady Spikers found a way to get back into game with their blocking. Officials failed to count a point that would have tied the game for DLSU at 22-22; still the Lady Spikers navigated their way to a 27-25 set win.
DLSU then stomped on the Tigresses in the final set. UST tried their luck with different lineups but DLSU’s captain, Ara Galang proved to be too much as she carried her team to the win.
Galang led all scorers with 21 points off 16 spikes, 2 blocks, and 3 aces. Her beach volleyball teammate, Cyd Demecillo pitched in 15 points off 14 spikes. UST was led by blue chip recruit, Ennajie Laure who drove in 12 points off 11 spikes but the Tigresses did not find usual contributions from their veterans as no one else scored in double digits.
The scores:
DLSU – Galang 21, Demecillo 15, Reyes 6, Baron 5, Fajardo 3, Soyud 2, Cheng 1, Macandili (L) 0, Cruz (L) 0
UST – Laure 12, Lastimosa 7, De Leon 6, Tunay 4, Meneses 4, Cabanos 2, Rondina 1, Pacres 1, Dusaran (L) 0
