De La Salle-Lipa’s girls’ volleyball team completed a clean sweep of its weekend matches with a 25-13, 25-11 victory over Junction Youth Organization of Los Baños (Laguna) at the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Under-18 Championships.
The tournament, organized by the PNVF and supported by various organizations including the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Rebisco, and Akari, saw De La Salle-Lipa win all three of their matches over the weekend to finish 3-0 in Pool A.
The game saw 16-year-old Raizah Nicole Mamailao take care of defense at the net for De La Salle-Lipa, while opposite hitter Maezen De Silva, the youngest player on the Batangas squad at 12, provided instant offense in the second set alongside libero Reika Kaizerine Amaya. De Silva, a seventh-grader, was optimistic about the team’s prospects going forward.
“We just have to work hard, our job is not done as we’re heading now to the quarterfinals,” she said.
De La Salle-Lipa’s coach, Imee Mendoza, reminded the girls not to be selective and to follow the game plan. Mendoza also mentioned that classes in Lipa City would go online in anticipation of a nationwide transport strike, but she hopes that the parents of the players would allow them to go to school to practice.
“I’m getting an approval from our administrators to allow us to practice in school,” she said.
Junction Youth Organization exited the tournament with four losses.
In other girls’ results, Team Hiraya of Angono (Rizal) won its first game of the tournament by beating Ateneo de Manila University, 25-14, 26-24. Ateneo ended the tournament with a 0-4 card.
Santa Rosa City ended its Pool C campaign with a 3-1 record after beating United Volleyball League of Nueva Ecija for the fourth straight time, 25-13, 25-14.
Angeles City improved to 3-1 in Pool B by beating winless Queen Anne School (0-3) of Santa Rosa City, 25-19, 25-14.
