Despite a close game, the DLSU Lady Spikers snared their seventh victory of the season after a commanding straight-set sweep against the UP Fighting Maroons, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21, earlier today, May 31, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Alleiah Malaluan again spearheaded the scoring parade for the Lady Spikers with 14 points from 11 attacks, two aces, and a block. Thea Gagate complemented Malaluan’s impressive outing as she tallied 12 points from 10 spikes and two blocks.
Meanwhile, UP skipper Jewel Encarnacion and rookie Alyssa Bertolano led the Fighting Maroons with 10 points apiece but unfortunately went to naught.
Early lapses
In a similar fashion to their previous game, the Lady Spikers struggled to find their bearings early on. UP found an early 3-0 lead, capitalizing on their opponents’ slow start, before Gagate finally opened up the scoring for her team via a running hit, 3-1. The Fighting Maroons held on to their advantage by scoring points off of off-the-block hits. But their play was riddled with errors. DLSU capitalized on UP’s faults and showed consistent defensive play, allowing them to remain close, limiting the deficit to three, 8-11.
Down 11-13, middle blocker Gagate scored off a tip—shifting the momentum to La Salle’s side. After a service ace by Jolina Dela Cruz, the Taft-based squad proceeded to go on a 5-0 run, which gave DLSU a 16-13 lead heading into the second technical timeout of the opening set.
When the game seemed to be in control of the Lady Spikers, the young team suddenly had difficulties in protecting their lead. UP was able to catch DLSU flat-footed, tying the score at 19-all. Despite a late rally from UP, the team from Taft remained composed and closed out the opening frame, 25-21, on the back of opposing errors—paired with their steady defense.
Spirited fightback
The Lady Spikers kicked off the second frame with another slow offensive start, as UP uncorked an early 5-0 run from two off-the-block attacks, an ace, and two errors from DLSU, 0-5. The Taft-based squad scored off a quick play and a cross-court spike, followed by a service error from the Fighting Maroons, 2-6. But the scoring parade continued for UP, bringing their team into the first technical timeout with a comfortable five-point lead, 3-8.
Trailing behind, Malaluan delivered a cross-court spike and an ace to rally the Green-and-White. Both teams went on to exchange points one after the other, 8-12, until Gagate and Sharma converted a quick attack and a single block consecutively to bring the Lady Spikers back in the game, 10-12. Once again, DLSU and UP went on to trade markers before the second technical timeout of the second frame, 13-16.
La Salle successfully executed consecutive plays off a timeout: a cross-court attack by Dela Cruz and a kill block by Erika Santos—sparking the beginning of a momentous 5-2 run. They eventually saw themselves in the lead for the first time in the set, 19-18. Malaluan then committed an attack error, while Encarnacion managed to chip in a cross-court spike to steal the lead back, 19-20. Malaluan responded with two straight attacks to redeem herself and the advantage, 21-20, but was immediately countered by Encarnacion’s spike to even the game out at 21-all.
With both teams on a deadlock, La Salle unleashed a 3-0 bomb—courtesy of Coronel who came off the bench and scored two straight points—followed by an attacking error by UP that took them to set point, 24-21. The Fighting Maroons were able to save two set points afterward, but a cross-court spike by Malaluan sealed the set for the Lady Spikers, 25-23.
Closing out
Despite sporting a 2-0 set lead, the Lady Spikers had yet another slow start in what would be the final set of the match. The Fighting Maroons started the frame with a four-point lead before Dela Cruz’s stifling block that opened DLSU’s scoring. Led by Santos and Malaluan, the Green-and-White fought back to tie the game at 7-all.
After missing action in the first set, Bertolano took over for her team, working her way through and around La Salle’s defense to take her side to the second technical timeout leading, 16-10. But the team from Taft showed again and again in this matchup that they were not ones to back down. Veteran setter and team captain Marionne Alba was slotted back into the six by Lady Spikers head coach Ramil de Jesus and pulled the tempo of the game back into her squad’s favor.
After going on a stellar 9-1 run, DLSU continued to demoralize their counterparts from Diliman by stealing the lead in the third-straight set. Up 19-17, the Fighting Maroons once more found themselves playing catchup despite grabbing an early lead. Alba continued to dictate the offense for her team, misleading the Fighting Maroons’ blockers and opening up the paths for her attackers. The Lady Spikers grabbed their third straight set in what was a display of the team’s character, 25-21.
Coach Benson Bocboc in the post-game interview talked about the team’s recent knack of coming from behind, “Yes, I think follow up sa game last time against FEU, ‘yung [in-game] adjustments, hanggang ngayon lumalabas pa rin, medyo maganda ‘yung effect, nakikita namin ‘yung effect. Hopefully, next time, hindi ganun [in the sense that we have to come from behind].”
(…the in-game adjustments still happen until now. The effect is quite nice, and we see it. Hopefully, next time, we won’t have to come from behind.)
The mentor also discussed the number of Lady Spikers who had not seen much play in the first round come into the match, “So we’re trying to give them more chances to play and to show ano ‘yung kaya pa nilang magawa, [and] at the same time, kung papaano sila mag-cocomplement with each other sa loob ng court.…Positive naman ‘yung mga resulta. Hopefully, we can maximize [their potential] in the following games.”
(…to show what else they can do and at the same time, how they complement each other inside the court…The results have been positive so far…)
With this result, the Lady Spikers improve their win-loss record to 7-3—putting them at third in the standings. Their next game will be against the UST Golden Tigresses at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on June 2, Thursday, at 12:30 pm.
The Scores:
DLSU – Malaluan 14, Gagate 12, Dela Cruz 9, Santos 6, Coronel 4, Alba 2, Sharma 2, Cruz 1, Jingco 0
UP – Encarnacion 16, Bertolano 10, Bustrillo 7, Bernardo 6, Atienza 5, Ytang 3, Arce 2, Sotomil 1, Jaboneta 0
Set Scores – 25-21, 25-23, 25-21
