The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers were all business despite facing the winless University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors. The Lady Spikers won in straight sets, 25-16, 25-16, 25-11, on Saturday afternoon, at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City.
UE were able to keep pace in the opening moments of the first set. The problem was that the points they got were mostly from the errors of the Lady Spikers. As the Lady Spikers got their act together, UE were unable to find an effective means of scoring. La Salle’s slim 8-7 lead quickly ballooned to 17-8 after a Tin Tiamzon off-the-block point. From there, it was only a matter of time before La Salle took the set.
La Salle’s Kim Dy came alive at the onset of set two, scoring off a block, connecting on a combination, and nabbing a block kill for a 4-2 La Salle lead. While UE were able to trim their deficit to a single point after consecutive blocks, Ara Galang and team captain Kim Fajardo helped propel the Lady Spikers to a 23-15 lead. La Salle’s offensive onslaught was momentarily halted by back-to-back errors, but Galang and May Luna scored the last two points of the set for a 2-0 set lead.
The Lady Warriors looked lost for most of the third set, as a string of UE errors and a pair of Dy kills put La Salle ahead 4-1.
The Lady Spikers then blitzed UE with a 16-1 run as UE just could not contain their errors. Trailing 20-3, UE attempted one last brave run, with Mary Anne Mendrez scoring off-the-block, Shaya Adorador connected on a service ace, and Galang committed a double-touch violation to ignite a 3-0 UE run. Alas, La Salle’s lead was too big to overcome.
Dy led all scorers with 14 points, followed by Galang’s 12. The Lady Warriors had no player in double-digit scoring, but were led by Adorador’s 7 and Roselle Baliton’s 4 points.
With the win, the Lady Spikers are assured of a twice-to-beat heading into the semis. However, their head coach, Ramil De Jesus, does not plan on taking the rest of the team’s games lightly, especially since their next game will be against their rivals, the Ateneo De Manila Lady Eagles.
“Sinasabi ko lang sa mga bata, mas maganda yung tatalunin mo lahat ng mga kalaban para may confidence pagdating sa semis.”
“Pahinga, wala sa vocabulary ko yun. Siguro yung tamang recovery lang. Alam naman natin na pagka Ateneo-La Salle kahit walang bearing may pride kasi.”
The La Salle-Ateneo tiff will be on 4pm Sunday, April 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena. UE’s next opponent will also be the Lady Eagles on 2pm Wednesday, April 6, at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Scores:
DLSU (3) – Dy 14, Galang 12, Luna 6, Tiamzon 6, Baron 4, Fajardo 3, Reyes 2, Esperanza 1, Cerveza 0, Ipag 0, Soyud 0, Saga 0, Macandili L.
UE (0) – Adorador 7, Baliton 4, Abil 3, Domingo 3, Mendrez 1, Catindig 0, Disquitado 0, Bendong 0, Alcayde 0, Dacaymat 0, Arado L.
