The DLSU Lady Spikers, hungry for more victory, were a fierce tempest on the taraflex, emerging triumphant against the UE Lady Warriors 25-12, 23-25, 25-14, 25-17, in their UAAP Season 87 Volleyball Tournament meeting earlier today, March 8, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Hailed Player of the Game was Jyne Soreño, receiving the accolade despite being a third set starter, who tallied 12 points from 10 attacks, a block, and an ace. Backing up the game changer was Team Captain Angel Canino, who delivered 14 attacks with three blocks and three service aces, bulking up the stat sheet with 20 points.
Van Bangayan led the Lady Warriors by registering 17 points, supported by an almost double-digit performance from Kayce Balingit, who recorded nine points.
Mastered the basics
Playing with the sight to establish their spot in the standings, the DLSU Lady Spikers served up the match with intensity to overcome the UE Lady Warriors. Early Taft-tower action from Lilay Del Castillo gave the Green-and-White a two-point advantage, 4-2. UE maintained their composure as Bangayan responded with an opposite hit to end Amie Provido’s service run. But consistency was key, as strong service from the Green-and-White forced a scramble in UE’s defense, 7-4. After the technical timeout, the Taft-based squad’s offensive momentum continued: Canino drilled an indefensible attack, La Salle’s string of service aces, and veteran Alleliah Malaluan’s sharp crosscourt hit from an effective connection with Mikole Reyes gave them a seven-point cushion, 12-5.
Khy Cepada stepped up for the squad from Recto Ave., ending their scoring slump, 13-6. DLSU struggled to organize play progression with three straight errors, adding to the Lady Warriors’ run. However, with Reyes’ stable second-ball distribution, the veterans switched on as Malaluan and Shevanna Laput led DLSU to dominating sights, 16-8. As the Lady Spikers consistently played the basics, the UE Lady Warriors regrouped with a timeout, which effectively burned a DLSU lead, 19-11. Canino delivered another emphatic off-the-block hit, followed by an aggressive defensive stunt by Del Castillo, 21-11. The authoritative force of the Lady Spikers thwarted Bangayan’s attempt to rally the Lady Warriors. The Green-and-White’s floor defense remained steadfast, and with seven free points from UE, La Salle ended the set with a monster block from Canino, 25-12.
Losing control
Redeeming themselves from an underwhelming opening set, the Lady Warriors started the second set matching the Lady Spikers’ intensity, 2-all. But the Lasallian pair of Canino and Provido executed sharp attacking plays to extend La Salle’s lead, 6-2. The two teams then exchanged points, with neither able to fashion long runs. However, the deficit began to shrink as DLSU began to make unforced errors to UE’s liking, including a net violation and multiple attacking errors across La Salle’s roster. Another Provido one-two play compensated the lead back to four, but a flurry of DLSU miscommunication errors along with a Bangayan kill placed the team from Recto Ave. on top, 13-11.
La Salle tried to pull away again, but the Lady Warriors kept pestering the Taft towers. Unfortunately for the Lasallians, the scoreline was eventually tied following a Shane Reterta service error and an imposing block on Canino, 17-all. Though the Lady Warriors’ attacking plays were erroneous, the Lady Spikers once again saw multiple setting errors, which gave easy points to UE. DLSU called a timeout to try and regroup, 20-all. The timeout proved ineffective as it was UE who eventually took the lead following a wayward Provido service. Another wayward ball from Malaluan then handed the second set to UE, 25-23.
Setback to comeback
After a shift in the atmosphere on the second set, the Lady Spikers found themselves going back on track through the basics with veteran Soreño leading the camp, 2-0. Reyes commanded the service line and tallied an ace, rattling the defense of UE and setting up an early four-point lead, 4-0. After a timeout was called, Beatrice Zamudio put up a fight, scoring one on the scoreboard, 6-1. Malaluan quickly responded, together with the Taft squad, to be back penning the floor and net defense. As all scoring outlets were checked, the Green-and-White propelled to a technical timeout with a block, 8-1. With consistency in mind and play, the Green-and-White kept the Lady Warriors at bay, halting any scoring opportunity they had while Soreño’s offensive skills were on display, 13-1.
However, exchanges between Canino and Bangayan on both sides of the net ignited intensity, 15-5. In hopes of inching closer, the Lady Warriors tried to rattle the Lady Spikers. But Canino had other plans, advancing the Taft-based squad to the next technical timeout, 16-6. After regrouping, the ladies in red struggled to maintain their momentum as Del Castillo took control of the service line, 19-8. The Taft-based squad’s rhythm was shackled by the Lady Warriors’ services, allowing them to fuel a comeback led by Bangayan and Balingit, 21-11. Lasallian cheers erupted as Jill Santos served up for Malaluan, sparking momentum for the Lady Spikers, 22-12. With La Salle inching closer to claiming the set, UE’s defense, anchored by Angelica Reyes, proved to be a tight matchup on the court. However, Canino and Soreño took charge, setting up set point, 24-14. While Bangayan sought hope with back-to-back points, it was immediately halted by Soreño, and the DLSU bounced back from the second set loss, 25-14.
Taking it home
With a renewed foothold, La Salle started the fourth set on full throttle. Provido and Canino consecutively exploited the defensive gaps of their opponents to give the Lady Spikers a comfortable lead before a UE positional fault added to the Lady Warriors’ early set woes, 6-1. Balingit stopped the early bleeding with a crosscourt kill that beat Lyka De Leon, who was unable to dig the shot. However, Provido followed with yet another one-two play, opening up La Salle to reach the first technical timeout after an impressive Canino crosscourt kill, 8-4. De Leon’s digging became a notable fixture during the fourth set, as it constantly provided her teammates with the platform for attacks. Consecutive points from Del Castillo through good combination play then pushed DLSU’s lead, 10-4. UE eventually scored three points through multiple DLSU errors and a Riza Nogales tip. DLSU Head Coach Ramil De Jesus quickly called a timeout for La Salle in an attempt to cut out the erroneous habits.
The Lady Spikers regrouped afterward and added to their tally, with Malaluan finding the central gap of UE with a nifty tip followed by a Canino ace, 12-7. A Del Castillo clever drop shot over the UE blockers followed by a Lady Warrior double touch further grew the deficit, 14-8. Balingit and Nogales did their best to thwart the DLSU surge, reducing the La Salle advantage back to five, 15-10. Yet, learning their lessons from the second set, the Lady Spikers stayed sharp and kept their lead significant. A Soreño middle attack was followed by a Malaluan block point and a Provido ace to boost the Taft-based squad to a six-point advantage, 20-14. With the set seemingly in their control, La Salle professionally saw out the remaining points. A UE positional fault was followed by a Soreño service ace to put La Salle within three points of the match, 22-15. A powerful Del Castillo block on UE was then followed by two UE attacking errors to end the showdown in La Salle’s favor, 25-17.
DLSU Assistant Coach Noel Orcullo expressed that while he acknowledged the win, La Salle’s coaching staff remained unsatisfied with what they saw on the court, especially in the second set, “Unang-una, hindi naging maganda ‘yung resulta ng game. Although we won, pero hindi ‘yun ‘yung gusto namin makita sa kanila. ‘Yun nga, second set, kinuha ng UE. Nag-relax sila eh. So ‘yun ‘yung bakit nagagalit si Coach [De Jesus]. So ‘yun lang, although nanalo, hindi maganda ‘yung resulta.”
(Firstly, the result of the game was not good. Although we won, that’s not what we want to see from them. As you saw, the second set was taken by UE. They relaxed. That’s why Coach [De Jesus] was angry. That’s all, although we won, the result was not nice.)
Team Captain Canino remarked similar sentiments when asked about the team’s display: “Siguro, kitang-kita ‘yung errors namin, lalo na noong second set. So, kailangan talaga namin i-work on ‘yung errors namin kada-set. Sabi nga namin na bawal mag-relax, kahit ano man naging resulta ng previous set; kailangan all-out pa rin and bigay ng respeto sa kalaban.”
(For sure, our errors were clearly seen, especially in the second set. So, we for sure need to work on our errors in every set. We said to ourselves that we can’t relax, no matter the result of the previous set; we need to still go all out and give respect to the opponent.)
Now coming off their first back-to-back wins of the season, the DLSU Lady Spikers return to action against their archrivals, the ADMU Blue Eagles, on Wednesday, March 12, at 3 pm at the same venue.
The Scores:
DLSU 3: Canino 20, Malaluan 12, Soreno 12, Provido 11, Del Castillo 8, Laput 8, Reyes 3, De Leon 0, Ordiales 0, Raagas 0, Reterta 0, Santos 0, Tolentino 0
UE 1: Bangayan 17, Balingit 9, Cepada 8, Nogales 3, Ginoo 2, Cañete 1, Ecalla 1, Zamudio 1, Reyes 0
Set scores: 25-12, 23-25, 25-14, 25-17
