UAAP: Lady Spikers win 9th straight to remain undefeated

The DLSU Lady Spikers easily dismantled the AdU Lady Falcons in straight sets, 25-9, 25-19, 25-13, giving the Taft-based squad a 25-game UAAP winning streak. Abi Maraño led La Salle with 12 points while Ara Galang chipped in another nine points to help the Green-and-White sneak past the formidable squad of the Lady Falcons. Meanwhile, Shiela Pineda led the Adamson team with nine points.

On the other hand, their male counterparts, the DLSU Green Spikers, suffered their sixth loss of the season against the ADMU Blue Eagles in five sets, 25-21, 26-28, 12-25, 25-19, 15-9, last January 22, 2013 at The San Juan Arena. With the loss, they sit at seventh place in the team standings.

A fast start

The Lady Spikers opened the game with a dominating theme. With unforced errors plaguing the Adamson squad, the scoreboard started to favor the Taft-based spikers in a lopsided affair. The first set ended 25-9, handing La Salle an advantage early on.

The Lady Falcons emerged stronger in the second set as they led for the first time in the match at 10-11 with a service ace from May Macatuno. However, the Lady Spikers immediately got back the lead and tried to minimize their errors. After leading by as much as five points, 23-18, a power hit by Mika Reyes ended the set, 25-19.

In the third set, Adamson took the first lead while La Salle struggled with a couple of errors giving the Lady Falcons an early three point lead. However, La Salle gradually patched things up and got full control in the set. The Lady Spikers continued their composure in the latter parts of game and finally took the set, 25-13.

A sudden collapse

Ateneo managed to take a close first set, 25-21. It seemed the first set was a wake up call for the Green Spikers as they played stronger in the second set against the Blue Eagles. At the end, the heated match went in favor of the Green Spikers, 26-28.

La Salle continued to play better in the third set with their main men Raymark Woo and Red Christensen leading the charge for them. Woo tallied a total of 20 points while Christensen contributed 14 points.

The Green Spikers won a one-sided thrid set, 12-25. The Katipunan-based spikers tried to bounce back in the fourth set seeking for the force of Marck Espejo, Neil Flores and Ysrael Marasigan. Ateneo pulled away to win the fourth set, 25-19.

In the fifth and deciding set, both teams played another tight game. However, the Green Spikers collapsed in the latter part of the set that gave the win to the Blue Eagles, 15-9. Ateneo’s Espejo was the best scorer of the game with 25 points.

Up next for the Green Spikers are the UST Growling Tigers whom they will face tomorrow, January 26 at The Arena in San Juan. Meanwhile, the Lady Spikers will face the FEU Lady Tamaraws on January 29 to extend their winning streak of the season to ten.