UAAP: Lady Spikers sweep UP, win fourth straight

The DLSU Lady Spikers swept the gritty UP Lady Maroons, 25-16, 25-20, 25-21, earlier today at The Arena in San Juan. With the victory, La Salle remains undefeated, 4-0, as they stay on top of the standings alongside the also undefeated ADMU Lady Eagles.

Despite having a slow start in most of their games this season, the Lady Spikers easily cruised against the Lady Maroons in the first set. La Salle quickly outhustled UP as they secured an early 6-1 lead to dictate the pace of the game. La Salle would not look back for the rest of the set since then, as continuous attacks by Ara Galang and Mika Reyes eventually pushed the scoring to 20-9. Galang fired for an offensive rally towards the end as the Lady Spikers claimed the first set, 25-16.

After their dominant first set, the Lady Spikers entered the second set with an early five-point rally led by Galang. But unlike the first set, the Lady Maroons fought back to tie the game at eight all by forcing the Lady Spikers to commit errors. It was a neck and neck battle between both teams, which resulted in four deadlocks. Midway through the set, the Lady Spikers were able to create some breathing room from the Lady Maroons because of the efforts of Kim Fajardo and Galang. In spite of this, the Lady Maroons were relentless in narrowing their deficit because of the offensive prowess of Nicole Tiamzon. As the Lady Spikers reached the 20-point mark, Demecillo took charge to win them the set, 25-20.

With their backs against the wall, the Lady Maroons took the fight to the Lady Spikers by taking the early lead in the start of third set, 7-2. After which, the Lady Spikers were able to cut the lead to two with a 4-1 run courtesy of Desiree Cheng and Kim Fajardo. Despite this run, errors began to factor in for DLSU, which allowed the Lady Maroons to maintain a two-point lead. Nevertheless, the Lady Spikers kept pressing on and were able to tie the game at 15-all. Fortunately for the Lady Spikers, momentum switched to their side as they were able to separate themselves from the Lady Maroons with a 7-3 run. At match point, it was a spike by Galang that sealed the set and the game with a score of 25-21.

This win extends La Salle’s winning streak to four games. Galang led all scorers with 20 points to her name. Follwowing her is UP’s Nicole Tiamzon followed close by with 17 points and DLSU’s Cyd Demecillo with 10.

The Lady Spikers aim to clinch their fifth straight win and remain undefeated as they face the FEU Lady Tamaraws on Wednesday, December 10, at 4 pm in the San Juan Arena.