Lady Spikers remain unbeaten

Beat the Adamson Lady Falcons in five sets

Games on Saturday
(SM Mall of Asia Arena)
9 a.m. – Ateneo vs UE (Men)
11 a.m. – FEU vs UST (Men)
1 p.m. – Ateneo vs UE (Women)
3 p.m. – FEU vs UST (Women)

DE LA Salle University (DLSU) staved off a strong resistance from Adamson University (AdU) to escape with a 19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 13-25, 15-5 victory and close in on a first-round sweep in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The DLSU Lady Spikers bucked off a poor start then staged a staggering 8-0 closeout to hurdle the AdU Lady Falcons for their sixth straight win in as many games.

The only team left in La Salle’s checklist is no less than back-to-back reigning champion National University (NU), at close second with a 5-1 slate, this Sunday at the same venue in a much-awaited finals rematch.

La Salle stamping its steely resolve and veteran pedigree amid repeated stomps from the vastly-improved Lady Falcons led by last year’s Rookie of the Year Shaina Nitura and rising star Frances Mordi.

And standing at the forefront was ace spiker and top MVP contender Shevana Laput, who bounced back from scoring only nine points in her comeback last game against UE with a career-best 26 points.

The 6-foot-2 hitter hammered 19 hits, six blocks and an ace, majority of which came from La Salle’s 8-0 blast to finish off the gritty Lady Falcons from a tightrope 7-5 score in the decider.

Season 85 Rookie-MVP Angel Canino, who led the way in Ms. Laput’s two-game absence, was also instrumental with an all-around brilliance of 19 points, 12 digs and 11 receptions while Shane Reterta also scattered 10 points, 12 receptions and 11 digs.

Middle blocker Amie Provido added nine points while the league’s leading playmaker Eshana Nunag provided 23 sets. Libero Lyka De Leon had 18 receptions and 14 digs.

“It took us until the fifth set to really wake up and realize that we came here for a purpose. We didn’t win two sets just to lose the fifth set. We didn’t come all the way to lose,” said Ms. Laput, sister of PBA player James from Magnolia.

Mses. Laput, Reterta and Provido accounted for La Salle’s last eight points in their first five-setter duel after going 15-1 in the first five matches. The Lady Spikers’ lone set defeat prior to this came against rival Ateneo de Manila University.

And the Lady Spikers had to work for every inch of it, getting off the wrong foot in a 19-25 first-set loss before taking care of the next two sets only for the Lady Falcons to forge a rubber game with a convincing 12-point win in the fourth.

Good thing for La Salle, experience played a major factor as Mses. Nitura and Mordi misfired when it mattered most.

Ms. Mordi (22) and Ms. Nitura (21) had their usual numbers for Adamson, which fell to 3-3 heading into its last duel against fellow final four hopeful University of the Philippines (UP) (3-2).

In the men’s play, University of Santo Tomas (5-1) clobbered UP (2-4), 25-22, 25-18, 25-16, to gain a piece of second seed with five-peat champion NU (5-1) while La Salle (2-4) notched its second straight win against Adamson (1-5), 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-20. — John Bryan Ulanday