Following a midweek loss to the UST Growling Tigers, the DLSU Green Spikers returned to their winning form as they triumphed over the UP Fighting Maroons in four sets, 23-25, 25-13, 26-24, and 25-15, in their UAAP Season 87 Men’s Volleyball Tournament fixture earlier today, March 2, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Rui Ventura was hailed the Player of The Game after capping a total of 14 points through nine attacks, three blocks, and two aces. Noel Kampton also continued to impress, tallying a total of 21 crucial points. Supporting the two were Joshua Rodriguez and Nat Del Pilar, who both recorded eight points to bolster their team’s victory.
Despite being on the losing side, UP’s Olayemi Raheem stood out, capturing a whopping 18 points. He was followed by fellow Fighting Maroons Angelo Lagando and Daniel Nicolas, who contributed 11 and nine points, respectively.
Toe-to-toe
Both sides of the court went stride-for-stride during the opening exchanges of the first set. Raheem of the UP Fighting Maroons established himself early in the game after executing a backrow attack to take a two-point lead early on, 3-1. However, neither team formed any momentum as errors from both teams kept the scores close. Miscommunication from the Green Spikers saw an Eco Adajar set go unreceived, tying the game at 5-all. Raheem continued to penetrate La Salle’s double blocker system as his kills were simply too powerful for the Green-and-White to handle. Fortunately, Del Pilar and Eric Layug held the ground defensively. The latter put up a monstrous block on UP’s attack to tie the game once again, 10-all. Star player Kampton began to find his groove with two kills and an impressive service ace to boost DLSU into a three-point advantage, 15-12.
However, the Fighting Maroons quickly caught up as Raheem continued to cause issues for the Lasallian blockers. Points from UP’s Lagando and Raheem were canceled out by La Salle’s Uriel Mendoza and an attack error from the Fighting Maroons. With the game locked at 19-all, two consecutive errors from Del Pilar and Kampton gave UP a two-point lead. Kampton tried to rally the Green Spikers by penetrating UP’s double blocking and cutting the deficit to one, 21-20. Kampton scored a hit off the UP blockers before a UP attack went out, 22-all. With the first set in the balance, it was the Fighting Maroons who pulled ahead with three points despite a consolation Mendoza point, 25-23.
Animo ignites
Eager to rebound from the first set, the Green Spikers dominated the second set. The Animo morale showed up on the court as Kampton delivered a wrist-flicking nailer to bring the early half to a tie, 1-all. Heated off of the bench, Ventura dealt with Raheem, delivering a statement block against the first-set troublemaker, 4-3. Ventura remained an effective seed for the Green Spikers as he spiked a forceful opposite hit followed by a deadly service ace, giving La Salle a three-point advantage, 9-6. The team chemistry became more evident as the Green Spikers displayed a thrashing combination play, allowing Mendoza to secure their tenth point. When the scores reached 11-7 in favor of DLSU, UP was forced to call for a timeout.
Despite the Fighting Maroons’ attempts to pile on pressure, the Lasallians remained unruffled throughout the second half of the set. Overwhelming the bets of the Katipunan-based team, Adajar arranged another deceiving play, placing Del Pilar to fool the blockers of UP and setting up Kampton for a fierce hit from the middle, 15-10. Kampton added to La Salle’s stellar display with powerful contributions from the service line, giving the scoreboard two aces to stretch the lead to seven, 17-10. The dominating run of the Green Spikers continued, eventually capped off by the Green Spikers with a running hit by Rodriguez. The attack ended the set with the biggest lead of the match, 25-13.
Fine margins
After reestablishing their foothold on the matchup, the Green Spikers carried the momentum into the third set. La Salle raced to a four-point lead through a Kampton wing attack, followed by a Rodriguez monster block on UP’s Lagando, before a UP attack error was once again committed. This run was capped off by Ventura, whose attack was once again too hot to handle, 4-0. To answer back, Lagando and De Guzman stopped the early bleeding, 4-3. Despite attempts to pull away, DLSU was unable to solve the offensive problems caused by Raheem, who pulled UP closer to La Salle with a crosscourt kill and wing attack, 8-6. Following a lengthy and intense rally, UP’s Lagando cut the lead back down to one, 8-7. The two sides continued to exchange points with neither team building a substantial run. The score was leveled after Lagando’s wing attack was undefended by La Salle and a Rodriguez attack bounced out, 11-all.
It was the Fighting Maroons who finally managed to adapt to the seesaw nature of the matchup, with a clever point from Louise Aballe and a crosscourt kill from Raheem. DLSU also suffered from multiple reception errors that nullified their attacking plays. DLSU’s coaching staff called a momentum-killing timeout to try and salvage the set. The timeout proved successful as the Green Spikers regrouped and put together a four-point run, which included a crosscourt kill and drop shot from Kampton. Adajar soon tied the game at 21-all after he put up a defiant block on Castrodes. Once again, both sides saw costly attacking errors as the scoreline soon read 23-all. A Kampton kill put La Salle at a set point before Raheem put the set to deuce. With the scoreline at 24-all, it was La Salle’s turn to capitalize on the fine margins after Lagando’s attack went out before Ventura put up a block on Raheem to paint the set green, 26-24.
Sealed with power
Coming off of a nail-biting deuce, the fourth set began with tight rallies between the two teams. Ventura continued to shoot his arrows, scattering his points even at the last leg of the match with a crosscourt killer, 3-all. Team captain and libero Menard Guerrero also stepped up to hand perfect receptions to the court, allowing for a swift Guererro-Adajar-Del Pilar quick attack, 4-all. The Green Spikers let another player off the bench to introduce Vince Maglinao, who pierced a spike off of the hands of the UP blockers, forcing the Fighting Maroons to call for an early timeout, 7-4. Even at the last set, the service line saw strong serves from the green side that seemed to rattle the defense of UP, allowing the Green Spikers to make a 5-0 run.
Ventura continued to make his presence felt even at the last juncture of the match with his fast-paced instincts, supplying an electrifying kill from behind the setter, 20-13. Silent on the attacking block, Adajar delivered at the last minute with an unexpected drop ball. Similar to their dominant second set stint, the last set saw a finish from the middle department with a thunderous quick attack by Del Pilar, 25-15.
After the game, Head Coach Jose Roque noted how the Green Spikers still had to solidify their mental game inside the court, “In terms of physical, nando’n na yung team namin. Kung mental side, siguro emotional yung need namin [i-improve].”
Following this win, the Green-and-White aims to further improve their record as they prepare to face the UE Red Warriors on Saturday, March 8, at 9 am in the same venue.
The Scores:
DLSU 3 – Kampton, 21, Ventura 14, Del Pilau 8, Rodriguez 8, Mendoza 7, Adajar 4, Maglinao 3, Fortuna 2, Layug 1, De Castro 0 Poquita 0, Hernandez 0,
UP 1 – Raheem 18, Lagando 11, Nicolas 9, Castrodes 8, Francisco 4, Aballe 3, Aca-ac 2, Lipata 1, Santiago 1, Bersano 0, Clemente 0
Set scores – 23-25, 25-13, 26-24, 25-15
