Ending their last eliminations match on a low note, the Lady Spikers suffered their fourth loss at the hands of the Lady Tamaraws in five sets, 22-25, 25-13, 25-15, 25-27, 8-15, earlier today at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Falling into a deadlock at the second spot, with a 10-4 win-loss card, the DLSU will have to face the UST Golden Tigresses in a contention for the twice-to-beat advantage heading to the semis.
“Kung gusto niyong manalo, paghirapan niyo. Hindi matutupad ang four peat niyo kung hindi kayo mananalo,” DLSU head tactician Ramil De Jesus exclaimed reminding the team of their end target, the coveted four-peat title.
(If you want to win, work for it. Your four peat [title] will not happen if you will not win.)
Leading the scoring for La Salle, Jolina Dela Cruz delivered 22 points from 15 attacks, 6 service aces, and a block. Lady Spikers Ernestine Tiamzon and May Luna also chipped in 17 and 15 points, respectively. On the other hand, Heather Guino-o and Jerrili Malabanan were the only Lady Tamaraws who entered the double-digit column with 24 and 15 points, respectively.
Early errors
Early in the game, the Lady Tamaraws immediately pulled away as the Lady Spikers struggled to score as they relied only on their opponents’ errors, 9-4. However, Dela Cruz ignited the 9-0 scoring run of the Taft-based squad with her quadruple aces to snatch the lead back for her team, 13-9. The scoring momentum was foiled by seven errors of DLSU which helped FEU crawl back up and cut the lead to one, 18-17. FEU eventually took the set through three DLSU errors, 22-25.
Straight and sustained
Drawing fuel from the first set loss, the Green-and-White propelled to a 9-1 run early in the second set. The Lady Spikers maintained their lead and carried their scoring momentum, putting the Lady Tamaraws in a 12-point sinkhole to seal the set at 25-13.
With one-set apiece, both teams rallied and traded points at the beginning of the third set keeping the gap close. Eventually the two teams tied at 14-all in this decisive set. However, the Lasallians stopped the Tamaraws to score and pulled away an impressive 11-1 run to take a two-to-one set advantage, 25-15.
Fueled then foiled
The Taft-based squad were looking forward to end the match. Although, the Morayta-based squad closed in at 11-all in the fourth set, and eventually snatched a four-point lead, 15-11. The gap was maintained by the Lady Tamaraws, 20-15, but the Lady Spikers were able to keep up with the pace and tied the scores at 22-all. FEU was able to stretch the set with two match points saved and then finally seized the set from three errors of DLSU, 25-27.
“Andun na po. Malapit na kami [pero] nadulas pa kami,” Dela Cruz shared with a bit of disappointment but still confident heading into their match with UST. She concluded with, “Syempre La Salle eh,” hoping DLSU will come through this Wednesday.
(We were already there. We were very close but we slipped.)
(Of course it’s La Salle.)
Slipped and sank
As FEU forced a do-or-die set, the team carried the momentum and immediately executed a four-point lead, 6-2. DLSU struggled to put off a ball with the impressive court defense of the other team, forcing them to commit errors. The Lady Tamaraws kept the Lady Spikers from scoring and contained them with eight points. In the end, the Lady Tamaraws continued to attack at all angles and polished their court defense as they reached match point, 15-8.
“May mga maling desisyon na kailangang itama sa Wednesday,” De Jesus said. “Wala nang time magalit [sa kanila]. Ayokong dalhin pa nila yung pagkatalo sa Wednesday,” he added, motivating the team as they head into the playoffs.
(There were wrong decisions made that need to be corrected on Wednesday. There is no time to get mad at them. I don’t want them to carry this loss on Wednesday.)
The DLSU Lady Spikers will be facing the UST Golden Tigresses in a playoff for the twice-to-beat advantage on Wednesday, May 1, at 3:30 pm at the same venue.
The scores:
DLSU (105) – Dela Cruz (22), Tiamzon (17), Luna (15), Ogunsanya (8), Clemente (7), Cheng (2), Cobb (2), Alba (0), Ipac (0), Saga (0)
FEU (95) – Guino-o (24), Malabanan (15), Carandang (8), Ronquillo (5), Villareal (3), Agudo (3), Cayuna (2), Domingo (1), Negrito (1), Duremdes (1), Hernandez (0)
