The DLSU Lady Spikers garnered their eighth win in the second round with a four-set victory that demoralized the UST Golden Tigresses, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-8, earlier today, June 2, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
La Salle orchestrated a well-balanced offense with Leila Cruz leading the scoring barrage with 15 points, 13 of which coming from attacks. Middle blockers Fifi Sharma and Thea Gagate were also spectacular as they recorded 13 points each. Outside spikers Jolina Dela Cruz and Alleiah Malaluan also tallied double-digit outputss with 11 and 10 markers, respectively. Dubbed the Player of the Game, team captain Mars Alba arguably had her best game of the season by generating 25 excellent sets for the Lady Spikers.
Meanwhile, Ypril Tapia and Imee Hernandez led the scoring for the Golden Tigresses with 12 points apiece. On the other hand, Most Valuable Player candidate and UST skipper Eya Laure was limited to a subpar eight points after the Lady Spikers’ game plan worked tremendously in defending against her powerful spikes. It was the first time this season that Laure was limited to less than 10 points, magnifying the defensive prowess of the Green-and-White.
Early rhythm
The Green-and-White opened the match with a perfectly executed down-the-line hit by Dela Cruz, 1-0. Just like in their recent games, however, they struggled to find their rhythm, as the Golden Tigresses showed dominance early on. Tapia scored back-to-back points with a drop ball that was followed by a service ace, giving UST the lead, 1-2. The Lady Spikers struggled with their floor defense and attacks, highlighted by Malaluan being denied at the net, giving UST the momentum with four points up, 2-6. But the Lady Spikers showed resilience and eventually recovered from this rut, successfully blocking UST star Laure at the net as they headed into the first technical timeout, 8-6.
Leading by two, team captain Alba made a smart one-handed set to Sharma for a drop ball, followed by excellent reception from her team, 9-7. Cruz ended the long rally with a sharp spike, leading them into the first set’s second technical timeout holding a 16-12 lead.
After minimizing their errors, the Golden Tigresses went on a 3-0 run and cut down DLSU’s lead, 20-18. Afterward, DLSU head coach Ramil de Jesus called for a timeout to stop the bleeding. UST eventually caught up toward the end of the set, but failed to contain Malaluan and Alba’s crucial combination play. Laure eventually committed an attack error, giving DLSU the first set of the game, 25-23.
Continuing the surge
After stifling the surge of UST at the end of the opening set, the Lady Spikers brought the momentum to the second set. It was a nip-and-tuck affair at the start, as two successive blocks by Camille Victoria knotted it up at 3-apiece. However, the rampage of Cruz—scoring five out of the next six points—catapulted DLSU to a quick 9-3 advantage.
Hernandez then made her presence felt with a block on outside hitter Malaluan, cutting the lead to 9-7 for the Green-and-White. De Jesus subbed out Malaluan instantly, but two successive points off Sharma at the net put them back ahead by four, 11-7. With the team from Taft ahead, De Jesus inserted back Malaluan and she recuperated by converting on a magnificent backrow attack to increase the lead to five, 13-8. The exchange of points continued before Dela Cruz’s attack through the middle maintained the five-point lead heading into the second set’s second technical timeout, 16-11.
The Golden Tigresses tried to regroup and to slice down the deficit but were only able to cut it to as low as four through an overreceived ball from Malaluan, 18-14. But Alba stabilized the squad once again as she went back to Cruz for a cross-court attack. This was followed by a Laure error, which gave DLSU a comfortable 20-14 lead.
UST head coach Kung Fu Reyes called his final timeout of the second set, which worked wonders as it instantly led to a spectacular attack by Victoria. After the spike, the Lady Spikers still held a 20-15 cushion, but a remarkable block by Dela Cruz—followed by a Tapia error—put the Green-and-White two points away from grabbing the set, 23-16. The superb production of Alba was highlighted by a Gagate spike at the left side of the net, putting the Lady Spikers at set point. Rachelle Roldan’s attack error then capped a huge 25-17 win for DLSU to end the second set of the match and to give DLSU a 2-0 set advantage.
Sluggish reception
After bagging a comfortable two-set lead, the Taft-based squad faltered in maintaining an early lead in the third set. But Gagate immediately scored back-to-back points with a drop ball and service ace to cut the deficit, 2-3. Golden Tigresses skipper Laure immediately answered back with her own share of back-to-back points as she converted a combination play, with UST still up by two, 3-5. The Green-and-White was plagued with poor reception, along with Malaluan and Dela Cruz committing attack errors—giving UST a solid four-point lead heading into the first technical timeout of the penultimate set, 4-8.
After finally regaining their composure, middle blocker Gagate converted consecutive quick attacks to allow La Salle to snatch the lead, 12-11. Reyes immediately called a timeout with the attempt to stop the Lady Spikers from widening the gap. However, Espina—who came from the bench—successfully blocked an explosive spike from Laure, giving DLSU an 18-15 lead.
Despite trailing in the third set, the Golden Tigresses persevered and went on a crucial 6-0 run—tying the score at 18-all—while capitalizing on DLSU’s errors. Maji Mangulabnan’s service error halted UST’s run, but they maintained a 21-20 lead. Up until the final moments of the third set, the España-based squad contained La Salle’s offensive plays, registering a block on Dela Cruz’s attack and putting them ahead at set point, 22-24. Tapia closed the set with a sharp service ace, forcing DLSU to drop the third frame, 25-22.
Ending in dominating fashion
The Lady Spikers bounced back from a measly third set by gaining an early advantage, building an early 4-0 lead via Cruz’s successful attack. The Golden Tigresses were forced to an early stoppage, but decreased the lead to three due to a Dela Cruz service error, 5-2. That was as close as UST could get, as Malaluan’s down-the-line attack and a Donna Tuazon attack error gave DLSU a huge 8-2 lead entering the would-be last frame’s first technical timeout.
Off the break, Malaluan continued her stellar play by blocking Laure at the net and scoring on a cross-court attack to increase DLSU’s lead to eight, 10-2. The Golden Tigresses were in disarray, and it was insurmountable for them to build any sort of confidence to decrease DLSU’s huge lead. Sharma was a primary contributor in this deciding set, scoring yet another attack from the middle, 13-5. This was followed by a Tapia attack error, forcing Reyes to call his second timeout of the set as the Lady Spikers led, 14-5.
The momentum and rhythm of the Green-and-White were impeccable at this juncture of the match, while the Golden Tigresses looked demoralized—failing to defend La Salle’s rampaging attacks. Another forceful middle attack from Sharma and a booming ace got the pumped up DLSU crowd to its feet, with the lead growing to 13, 19-6. De Jesus was ecstatic with the all-around production of the Lady Spikers, highlighted by a Gagate block on Laure to put them three points away from wrapping up the match, 22-8.
Erika Santos was inserted to finish the contest and contributed a powerful attack from the open, increasing the lead to as much as 15, 23-8. Two unfortunate errors from the Golden Tigresses finished it off for the Lady Spikers—capping the face off with an epic 25-8 win in the final frame.
Following the convincing win, DLSU coach Benson Bocboc shared his optimism about the team’s current trend, “I think ‘yung lumabas sa’min dito [ay] mostly consistency ng team following ‘yung sa previous matches namin na [panalo ng] straight sets. So far, going up ‘yung performance ng players.”
(This match showcased the team’s consistency following our previous matches that were won in straight sets. So far, the team’s overall performance is improving.)
After a breakout game against a strong foe, Cruz stressed the importance of this match to the team’s chemistry, “Siguro nakakadagdag ng kumpyansa para patuloy tuloy kami pataas. [Feeling] ko nakakatulong talaga ‘yung game na ito para mag-gel kami as a team.”
(I believe that this game adds to our confidence so that our team continues to climb the ladder. I feel like this win really helps us gel as a unit.)
The Lady Spikers will look to continue on their three-game winning streak as they play against the UE Red Warriors at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday, June 4, at 4pm.
The Scores:
DLSU – Cruz 15, Gagate 13, Sharma 13, Dela Cruz 11, Malaluan 10, Santos 2, Alba 1, Espina 1, Coronel 0,
UST – Tapia 12, Hernandez 12, Victoria 9, Laure 8, Galdones 3, Ecalla 3, Jimenez, Galanza 0, Mangulabnan 0, Roldan 0, Tuazon 0
Set Scores: 25-23, 25-17, 22-15, 25-8
