The DLSU Lady Spikers narrowly escaped their long-time rivals, the ADMU Blue Eagles, in a nail-biting five-set showdown, 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 17-15, to preserve their undefeated run in the 2024 Shakeys Super League as they advance to the semifinals.
Rising to the occasion was Player of the Game Amie Provido, who showcased an exceptional performance chalking 13 points from seven attacks, three blocks, and three aces. Aiding her in this victory were Team Captain Angel Canino who tallied 17 points and Shevana Laput with 16 points from 13 attacks, two blocks, and an ace.
On the other side of the court, Lyan De Guzman anchored the scoring for the Blue Eagles with her impressive 17 points, supported by Sophia Buena and AC Miner, who scored 13 and seven points, respectively.
Awe-inspiring kick-off
The Lady Spikers entered the first set knowing they were one win away from securing a semifinal spot. Shane Reterta scored the first point of the set, but first-set jitters affected both teams, evident in early errors, 3-1. After a service error by Provido, the Lady Spikers began a 3-0 run courtesy of Canino and Lilay Del Castillo’s block and attack. Despite an early lead, Mikole Reyes’ plays were easily read by the Blue Eagles as she continued to set to her middle, not minding her wingers. This lack of variation allowed Yvana Sulit to score off an attack, confusing La Salle’s defenders, 7-5. However, La Salle continued their early command as Reyes dished back set, enabling Laput to deliver a crosscourt dagger to force ADMU to call timeout, 13-7.
As the game ensued, De Guzman put up a good fight as she anchored the Blue Eagles’ scoring with an off-the-block attack. Much to no avail, La Salle maintained a consistent lead as Jyne Soreño made her presence felt off the bench with a down-the-line attack to amplify the Lady Spikers’ seven-point advantage, 18-11. Rattled by the sizable lead, ADMU failed to maintain composure, and their floor defense began to falter, failing to send the ball across, 20-14. Provido capitalized on the shaky defense, ending the long rally with a powerful spike from the middle, 23-15. With everything going well for La Salle, Canino’s attack off the block quickly handed the Lady Spikers the first set, 25-18.
Hot hands
Kicking off the second set, a net touch from the Katipunan-based squad started the match with an advantage for the Green-and-White, 1-0. The Blue Eagles eager to build momentum to win, exchanged several deadlocks with the Taft-based squad. However, an attack error from Maria Santos put La Salle on the back foot, 9-8. Struggling to find footing, the Lady Spikers came out with several unforced errors, giving the Blue Eagles an opportunity to take the lead, 11-9.
Answering the call for a rally, Soreño nicked two consecutive marks for the green jerseys followed by two impressive attacks by Alleiah Malaluan to regain the lead, 14-13. With the Lady Spikers making the pace, Ateneo attempted to catch up as Blue Eagles’ Katherine Cortez tried to stop the bleeding with her impressive ball distribution, 16-all. Alexia Montoro aided the Katipunan-based team with a drop to narrow the gap, 22-19. However, the Green-and-White’s determination was too strong of a feat. In the last few events of the set, Malaluan stamped on the Blue Eagles’ chances at victory with a sharp cross as the Lady Spikers ended the second set with high hopes, 25-20.
Losing grip
The Lady Spikers were at an early disadvantage in the third set as they were down by three, with their lone point coming from Canino’s attack targeting an empty spot near Geezel Tsunashima, 3-1. While the scores remained close, ADMU held the upper hand as their wingers stepped up, aided by a couple of attack errors committed by La Salle. A 4-0 run ensued courtesy of a block point from Laput and stellar three aces from Provido, handing La Salle the lead, 9-7. The nip-and-tuck affair continued while the Lady Spikers’ errors continued to torment them, allowing the Blue Eagles to catch up and tie the set as De Guzman targeted Zone Six, 13-12.
The third set saw a shaky performance from the Lady Spikers as their lapse in both offense and defense began to show. Continuously giving away free balls, Miner ended the long rally with a running attack, to which Provido responded with a spike of her own, though La Salle still trailed by one, 17-16. Despite the setback, Provido did not back down and valiantly did her best to block De Guzman, who had been continuously penetrating through La Salle’s Taft towers, 23-20. Ultimately, the Lady Spikers dropped the third set after back-to-back points from the side of ADMU, claiming their first set with La Salle trailing behind by five, 25-20.
Left in the dust
Starting on cold feet, the green and blue jerseys exchanged service errors, as they struggled to adapt to the change of pace in the court, 2-1. Miner and Tsunashima saw the opening and went all out for the Eagles as they rained on the Lady Spikers’ faltering spirits. Fresh off a timeout, Canino remained unfettered and led the charge with a sharp attack, but was immediately answered back by a down-the-line attack by Buena and back-to-back service aces, 10-7. Dead set on securing their spot for the semis, La Salle forced Ateneo into a head-to-head battle, as they were cornered to several deadlocks, 15-all.
With her mind set on the Blue Eagles’ success, Buena stepped up, clinching consecutive marks for the blue jerseys, and targeted La Salle’s shaky floor defense on the corners of the court, 18-15. With the Green-and-White crumbling against the pressure, the Katipunan-based squad’s front liners strengthened their resolve and continued to put out consistent defensive and offensive plays, leaving the Green-and-White in the dust, 23-19. Persistent Canino, in an attempt to give DLSU an opening, attacked the backline, however a costly service error shoved all hopes down the drain, 24-19. Much to no avail, ADMU clinched the third set with a down-the-line from Tsunashima, forcing a do-or-die fifth set, 25-20.
Renewed rivalry
With a semifinal berth on the line, the fifth set was a battle of strength and stamina. The Lady Spikers faced an early snag as they were down by two due to their unforced errors. Provido tipped the ball forward to give La Salle their first point of the set, but De Guzman responded with a specialty attack in Zone Six to maintain ADMU’s lead, 3-1. In this continued close fight, Canino recognized that her powerful attacks were not enough to end rallies against ADMU’s pristine defense, so she switched mid-air to an offspeed attack to help La Salle catch up, 4-3.
As the game progressed, it was a showdown between reliable attackers. Provido swung an attack from the middle, while De Guzman made the most out of the rotation and found an empty spot in La Salle’s defense with no libero, 8-7. Now at an extended set, a costly error and a double block from the Blue Eagles ignited a fire in the Lady Spikers to persevere. Soreño launched an attack, finding an empty spot in ADMU’s Herculean defense to tie the match, 15-all.
Another catastrophic service error by the Blue Eagles gave La Salle the match point. Now with one point away from victory, the Lady Spikers stayed composed as the tall wingers manned the offense while a stable back row stabilized the team’s defense, forcing De Guzman’s attack to go out, 17-15. The Lady Spikers succeeded in five sets, booking a ticket to the semifinal and denying the Blue Eagles’ chance of turning the tide in their favor.
Facing an unexpectedly tough quarterfinals matchup against the Blue Eagles, Player of the Game, Provido shared how their coaches pushed them to fight through their hard-fought win in the fifth set, “Siguro yung motivation namin is yung mga coaches. Sila yung laging nagtitiwala sa amin, and alam namin na hindi lang ‘yun yung kaya naming ibuga. So sumusunod lang kami sa kanila bumalik sa composure namin and yung galaw talaga namin.”
(I think that our motivation is our coaches. They are the ones who always trust us, and we know that we’re capable of more than what we’ve shown. So we follow their guidance to get back to our composure, and move the way we’re supposed to.)
Provido also expressed her eagerness to gain more experience and learnings in the upcoming battle, “Siguro more experience and learnings kasi rebuilding team kami and marami kaming mga bata na kasama. So ‘yun need pa namin ng more exposure talaga and maganda ‘yon [dahil] makakahelp ‘yon sa amin.”
(Maybe more experience and learning are what we need since we’re a rebuilding team with a lot of younger players. So we really need more exposure, and that would be great because it will help us.)
Ending the quarterfinals with an unblemished record, the Lady Spikers set their sights on clinching another victory at the knockout semifinals stage of the Shakey’s Super League on November 6, at the same venue.
The Scores:
DLSU 3 – Canino 17, Laput 16, Provido 13, Del Castillo 11, Soreño 9, Malaluan 8, Reterta 4, Ordiales 2, Santos 1, Reyes 0, De Leon 0, De Jesus 0, Caringal 0
ADMU 2 – De Guzman 17, Buena 12, Miner 7, Sulit 6, Tsunashima 6, Delos Santos 4, Chuatico 4, Montoro 4, Nisperos 2, Cortez 1, Silla 1, Arroyo 0, Hugo 0, Fujimoto 0
Set Scores: 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 17-15
