De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas completed sweeps of their respective pools in the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Spikers, fielding mostly senior high school prospects for the contest, dispatched the also-ran JRU Lady Bombers, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16, in Pool C.
Meanwhile, the Golden Tigresses staged a thrilling comeback from two sets down to outlast fellow UAAP team UE Lady Warriors, 23-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 15-9.
Jyne Soreno led La Salle with a stellar performance from the service line, firing six aces alongside four attacks for a total of 10 points.
Her serving was key to La Salle’s dominant first-round finish in a tournament backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, GCash, Chery Tiggo, F2 Logistics, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, R and B Milk Tea, and Summit Water.
“Lalo na’t mga bata ang kasama ko, nagtutulungan kami sa loob ng court. Maipasok lang talaga ang service, no errors, kasi dapat ma-maintain namin kung ano ‘yung ginawa namin sa training talaga. Dapat consistent sa lahat ng service,” Soreno shared after accounting for more than half of La Salle’s 10 service aces.
Senior high school winger Sandy Demain also made an impact, tallying 11 points, all from attacks, while middle blocker Katrina del Castillo contributed 10 markers. Amor Guinto chipped in 10 points, including the match-clinching wing attack.
La Salle now moves on to face the No. 1 seed from Pool A, as well as the second-ranked teams from Pools B and D, in a round-robin play for one of two twice-to-beat advantages in the quarterfinals.
La Salle dominated the third set, with Guinto and Del Castillo combining for 11 points to seal the victory.
(C) Noel Tonido/SSL
On the other hand, UST leaned on Angge Poyos in the clutch to secure a hard-fought win against UE.
Poyos delivered 28 points, including 25 attacks and three blocks, to lead the Golden Tigresses.
Regina Jurado and Jonna Perdido also provided support with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
For UE, the California Sports Academy duo of Casiey Dongallo and Jelai Gajero led the charge with 14 points each.
Despite the loss, both the Tigresses and Lady Warriors advanced to the next round.
(C) Noel Tonido/SSL
In the third game of the triple-header, National University cruised past San Beda in just 70 minutes, winning 25-19, 25-7, 25-17, to remain on the verge of sweeping Pool A.
Myrtle Escanlar paced the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points, while Alyssa Solomon and Bella Belen added 12 and 9 points, respectively, in another dominant showing for the reigning UAAP champions.
