De La Salle University will be in the final stage of its V-League Collegiate Challenge title defense, averting a reverse sweep from the University of Santo Tomas with a hard-fought victory of 25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 23-25, 15-11 in Game 3 of the semifinals series on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
With this win, the Green Spikers will now face top-ranked Far Eastern University in a best-of-three Finals series set for 3:00 PM on Sunday at the same venue.
The match was a tense battle, with the Golden Spikers breathing down their necks at 9-10 in the final set.
The reigning champions responded decisively, executing a finishing run of 5-2 that culminated in a kill from Eugene Gloria and a service error from Al-Bukharie Sali.
This decisive finish wrapped up the contest after two hours and 26 minutes of play.
“Yung faith and trust ko, talagang binigay ko na sa kanila. I know my team is young compared to last season, pero yung tiwala ko na nakita ko sa kanila na kaya naming ulitin,” said head coach Jose Roque, reflecting on what clicked for the team in their series turnaround.
His faith in the players was evident – particularly after they needed to win Game 2 last Sunday, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23, to force a decisive third match.
They had dropped Game 1 the previous week in four sets (25-22, 23-25, 15-25, 16-25).
In the early stages of the match, De La Salle took command of the first two sets by capitalizing on their opponents’ errors, especially in serving.
When UST’s serves managed to cross the net, setter Jerico Adajar effectively utilized points of attack, with Rui Ventura and Chris Hernandez leading the charge.
However, the Golden Spikers regrouped and cleaned up their delivery in the next two frames. They pushed the match to a deciding set with key contributions from Julian Macam and Poppy Colinares.
Despite the momentum shift, the Green Spikers would not be denied victory.
Josh Magalaman, Ventura, and Hernandez provided the finishing touches to secure the win.
Ventura had a standout performance, exploding for 17 points on 16 kills and one block, while Magalaman added 13 points in the series-clinching match.
Yet, it was the all-around game of Hernandez that truly carried the Green Spikers against last season’s Finals opponent.
The outside hitter contributed 15 points, 14 from attacks and one from a block. He also excelled defensively with six digs and an impressive 19 excellent receptions.
For UST, Macam led the way with 17 markers and 17 excellent receptions, but it wasn’t enough for the Golden Spikers to reach a third consecutive Finals series.
GBoy De Vega also added 13 points, all from attacks, along with 12 digs, while Colinares chipped in 15 markers, six of which came from blocks.
