On separate occasions, both the Green and Lady Spikers overpowered their opponents earlier today, March 31, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The DLSU Green Spikers clinched their fourth win of the season as they swept the UE Red Warriors in straight sets, 25-21, 25-22, 29-27, morning of March 31. Cris Dumago came up for the Lasallians after posting 12 points on 11 attacks and one block. With the win, the team from Taft continues their bid in the Final Four race in the men’s division, sporting a 4-6 win-loss record.
The DLSU Lady Spikers attained their seventh win and avenged their first round loss against the UST Golden Tigresses in four sets, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24, earlier today at the Mall of Asia Arena. The Taft-based squad improved their standing to solo second with a 7-3 win-loss record. Meanwhile, UST now sports a 6-4 record, which places them at fourth in the team standings.
Team Captain Des Cheng led the way for the Green-and-White and notched her career high with 20 points built on 14 attacks, three blocks, and three services aces. Behind her was Aduke Ogunsanya who tallied 12 points, eight from attacks and four from blocks.
Meanwhile, in the losing effort of the team from España, Golden Tigress rookie Eya Laure scored 20 points on 16 attacks and four service aces. Sisi Rondina, on the other hand, recorded 19 points, all of which came from spikes.
Jittery start
The Lady Spikers scored the first three points in the match through the efforts of Ogunsanya and Tin Tiamzon to start off hot in the first set, 3-1. However, Laure attacked the defense of the team from Taft with three consecutive service aces to give the team from España the lead, 7-4. From there, the Golden Tigresses unleashed their attacking prowess as skipper Rondina attacked from all corners, 11-6. Multiple errors coming from attacks and net touches from DLSU gafve UST the advantage. The set ended with UST rookie Galdones blocking the attack from DLSU, 25-21.
“Slow start. Medyo nangangapa pa nung first set so sabi ko sa kanila, ‘di yun yung galaw niyo and ‘pag practice iba yung kinikilos natin. Pero pag dating ng game, medyo tight,’” head coach Ramil De Jesus shared.
(Slow start. They were still testing the waters in the first set so I told them, ‘This is not how you move and when we practiced, you acted differently, But in the game, you’re movements are tight.’)
Three consecutive errors from UST gave the lead to DLSU to start the second set, 4-1. However, errors kept haunting the Lasallians as they committed consecutive attack errors that gave the team from España the chance to tie it up, 6-all. Team captain Cheng did not give up as she, alongside with Dela Cruz, blocked the attacks of the Golden Tigresses to give them the lead, 18-12. A powerful cross court attack from Cheng gave the Green-and-White the second set, 25-23.
Back-to-back set wins
With momentum on their side after winning the second set, La Salle kicked off the third set with four consecutive points, 4-1, which was capped off by a Cheng service ace. UST was able to quickly respond due to several errors committed by DLSU, as they took the lead, 8-7, at the first technical timeout mark.
Several plays later, the Lady Spikers went on a scoring clinic, going on a 10-0 run with their net defense on point. This pressured the Golden Tigresses, particularly Laure, to commit five attack errors, 19-12. The team from España tried to mount a comeback but it was too late as the team from Taft claimed the third set after a quick attack by Ogunsanya from the middle, 25-19.
Playing with a sense of urgency in the fourth set, Laure found ways to score against DLSU’s blocking and receiving, as she notched five consecutive points for the Golden Tigresses, 7-5. The Lady Spikers, on the other hand, stuck to De Jesus’ system and played an all around game to keep themselves within striking distance.
The intensity of the match was at an all time high when a long rally ensued in the middle of the fourth set in which UST won through a block by Ysabel Jimenez to reduce the lead of DLSU to one, 14-13.
The game continued to be a stalemate toward the end of the set after back-to-back errors from the Lady Spikers, which tied the game at 24-all. La Salle maintained their composure and scored two points following a defensive stop by Des Clemente and a Laure attack error, which eventually gave DLSU the win, 26-24.
“Siguro mas gusto lang namin manalo today. Mas gusto lang namin na gumanda yung standing namin and maglaro kami as one team kaya ganun yung naging result,” Cheng expressed.
(Maybe we wanted to win more today. We wanted to improve our standings and to play as one team and that’s why the results were like that.)
The Lady Spikers will try to capitalize on their momentum as they go against the Adamson Lady Falcons on Sunday, April 7, at 4 pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The scores:
DLSU (97) – Cheng 20, Ogunsanya 12, Dela Cruz 6, Tiamzon 6, Clemente 5, Luna 2, Alba 1, Ipac 1
UST (91) – Laure 20, Rondina 19, Viray 8, Galdones 4, Balcorta 1, Jimenez 1, Pacres 1, Roldan 1
