UAAP: Lady Spikers finish fourth, Green Spikers falter

As the UAAP Beach Volleyball tournament nearly comes to a close, the DLSU Lady Spikers were able to survive the elimination round and managed to notch the last seed in the Final Four. However, the race to the Finals came to an early end for the Lady Spikers as they fell short against the UST Tigresses in their semifinals matchup held in the UE-Caloocan sand court last September 15.

On the other hand, the DLSU Green Spikers were unable to find an opportunity to redeem themselves after losing their last game in the eliminations to the AdU Soaring Falcons. This left the Green Spikers at eighth place to end the season with a win-loss card of 0-7.

Firmness in the sand

The Lady Spikers maintained their late season dominance as they closed out the elimination round with two-setter victories over the two Katipunan-based squads, the ADMU Lady Eagles and the UP Lady Maroons.

The dyad of Kim Fajardo and Cienne Cruz prevailed against the ADMU Lady Eagles in straight sets, 21-19 and 22-20. Trailing by one point in the second technical timeout, 11-10, La Salle forged a 5-1 run which yielded a 15-12 lead in favour of the Taft ladies midway through the first set. The Lady Eagles showed signs of life in crunch time as they tied the game at 19, however, the Lady Spikers were able to maintain their composure with powerful attacks from Fajardo and Cruz as they took the first set, 21-19.

Similar to the opening set, Ateneo managed to equalize the game at 18 nearing the end of the match. Both Fajardo and Cruz contributed a score apiece to get a crucial 20-18 lead over their archrivals. However, a service error from Cruz and a block from ADMU’s Alyssa Valdez tied the game at 20. Cruz finished the game with a service ace and La Salle won the second set, 22-20.

In their last game of the elimination round, Coach Ramil de Jesus’ squad topped the UP Lady Maroons in straight sets, 21-10 and 21-11, and booked their spot in the Final Four.

Failed championship bid

Finishing the season in the fourth spot with a 4-3 win-loss slate, the Lady Spikers of La Salle found themselves in another difficult circumstance as went head-to-head with the three-peat seeking defending champions, the UST Lady Tigresses, who had a twice-to-beat advantage over DLSU.

During game one of the semifinal series, the Lady Spikers easily surpassed the Espana-based squad in consecutive sets, 21-14 and 21-13.

Leading by an inch, 13-12, La Salle pulled away with an 8-2 run and secured the first set, 21-14. Going into the second set, the trio of former MVP Maru Banaticla, Pam Lastimosa, and reserve player Carmela Tunay managed to keep the game close with a 11-10 lead in the start of the set. La Salle then exploded with a 10-3 run courtesy of hard-hitting attacks from Fajardo and Cruz and came up victorious in the second set, 21-13.

Nevertheless, the Lady Spikers failed to carry on the momentum in the second and deciding game of their semifinal series against UST. La Salle fell short against them in three tough sets, 14-21, 21-11, and 7-15.

UST was off to a hot start in the opening set with an early six point lead, 18-12, and won the first set, 21-14. The second set was a different story though. DLSU started the set in a governing manner leading 12-4. The Lady Spikers showed complete dominance in the second set and evened the match, 21-11.

For the third and final set of the game, the Lady Tigresses occupied the driver’s seat with a comfortable 9-6 lead. The Lady Spikers failed to succeed in the deciding set, 15-7, and finished the season with a fourth place finish.

Distant from victory

Unlike their female counterparts, the Green Spikers were unfortunate and unable to grab even a single win in the tournament. During their last outing, the AdU Soaring Falcons took away a three-setter win against the Green Spikers, 12-21, 21-16, 15-11.

Despite of no chances of a Final four appearance, the Taft-based spikers still played a hard-fought battle against the Soaring Falcons. The Green-and-White squad comprised of Red Christensen, Jopet Movido and Mike Frey played smart, showing great offense and defense on the court. Adamson had no space to even out La Salle’s performance, losing with a nine-point deficit, 21-12.

However, Soaring Falcons Michael Sudaria and Rence Melgar challenged the Green Spikers and took the second set. The close match ended at 21-16 in favor of the Soaring Falcons and pushed for a third and deciding set.

In another close game, a composed La Salle team tried to make perfect down the line hits and drop shots, but this was not enough for the Green Spikers as the Soaring Falcons bagged the third set for the win, 15-11.