Braving the shifting heat and wind, the DLSU Green and Lady Spikers closed out their UAAP Season 88 Beach Volleyball Tournament campaigns with seventh-place finishes earlier today, November 29, at the Sands SM by the Bay.
The Lady Spikers finally found the spark they had long been chasing throughout their stint, breaking through with a commanding display against the UE Lady Warriors. With renewed confidence, Taft-based duo Mica Buis and Sophia Sindayen sealed a straight-set thumping, 21-12, 21-13, to conclude triumphantly.
On the other hand, the Green Spikers were pushed into a gritty, back-and-forth duel in their final outing. Despite having a strong grip at the start of the match, the Green-and-White fell short against the AdU Soaring Falcons, 21-16, 18-21,19-21, in a duel that hung on tight margins.
Owning the endline
Determined to secure the closer of the elimination rounds, the Lady Spikers displayed brute force in the scorching sun as Buis and Sindayen dominated the UE Lady Warriors in the first set. The ladies in green opened the set with composed control on the sand, shaking off an early net error to swiftly convert on UE’s successive errors and take a 3-1 lead. With Buis mixing deceptive top-spinner and endline pushes while Sindayen supported with steady coverage, DLSU built momentum as the Lady Warriors struggled to keep their attacks inside the lines. Although a brief sequence of net touches and a failed scramble trimmed the Taft squad’s advantage to 7-5, they regained their footing through composed sideout plays and capitalized on another UE error to enter court switch-up, 9-5. The Lasallian duo continued to dictate the flow of the match, outsmarting the defense with aggressive approaches stitched with deceptive drops to maintain a firm grip on a 13-8 lead heading into the technical timeout. Off from the break, DLSU kept pressing on as UE continued its attempt to turn the tables as the set featured a tit-for-tat exchange, capped by Sindayen’s sideline deceiver to stay five points ahead, 15-9. Sindayen repeatedly found gaps with well-placed knuckle pushes and sideline hits to extend the margin, 17-11. Buis added a cleverly disguised spinner to further deflate the Lady Warriors before a long rally ended with yet another decisive endline push, 20-12. Sindayen finally sealed the frame with a swift strike to the endline, giving the Lady Spikers a commanding 21-12 first-set finish.
The Lady Spikers immediately went through a rough patch at the beginning of the second set. However, DLSU proved to be superior in a breakaway four-streak to 8-3 due to Buis’ aggression from the service line and at the net, taking advantage of UE’s empty ground coverage. A timeout then marked the start of a swift Warrior comeback, fed by DLSU’s errors and an ace from each UE player, to level the scoreboard at 9-all. La Salle turned tables after calling their own timeout, blitzing through with spikes and drops toward an overwhelmed UE’s open corners, rewarding Buis and Sindayan a six-point streak at 15-9. The momentum then simmered down to an exchange of errors, but the Lady Spikers rekindled their footing and flexed by finishing with four straight shots where UE’s defense was empty, ending in Sindayan’s dropshot to finish the set and match at 21-13.
Premature celebration
The Green Spikers entered the shoreline in an encounter with the fierce AdU duo of Maruel Tan and John Hitones in their final matchup. Setting the tone for the first set, DLSU launched aggressive attacks in hopes of carving out a path to a playoff run. Before the first timeout, the green jerseys tallied the score to 16-10, giving the Falcons a six-point deficit off a spike hit outside by Hitones. Throughout the rest of the set, AdU gave a glimpse of what was to come, showcasing their composure and patience while La Salle kept falling behind. Despite the countless errors made on both sides of the court, the aggression of Andre Espejo scoring in the open finished the first set, 21-16, in favor of DLSU.
With the second set raging on, both teams started off evenly-matched, launching consecutive hits one after the other. The momentum began to shift when the Falcons gained a two-point lead, 5-3. Even with a solid power shot by Espejo, the Green Spikers’ deficit increased to five, 11-6, after numerous errors and tough two-way fights from the Soaring Falcons. Just as DLSU tried to find their way back by commanding a 3-0 run, Hitones answered with a clean spike out in the open to break the Spikers’ momentum before the technical timeout, 12-9. Despite the well-executed attacks and sets by the Lasallian duo, AdU’s unyielding determination held on, doing enough to fend off their attacks before the switch. DLSU retaliated by striking with a late surge, but AdU overcame the hurdle to claim the set, 21-18, tying the match.
The third set became a down-to-the-wire battle as both teams went back-and-forth through successive points despite mishaps. The first team to break away was the Green Spikers with a block by Espejo and strong spike by Marata to give DLSU a two-point lead, 9-7. Despite strong two-way efforts by the Spikers, the Falcons continued to hang on to put the match at a 10-all deadlock. With the Taft-based squad looking to make a comeback, AdU answered in kind with a two-to-nothing run from a knuckle shot and a service ace before the timeout, 12-10. The Green Spikers then fought back with a run of their own through strong all-rounded efforts to tie the game, 14-all. In their pursuit of fending off their opponent in strong duels, the San Marcelino-based squad outlasted the last-ditch flurry of La Salle with a ferocious assault to cap the nail-biting match, 21-19.
Despite the valiant efforts made by the Green and Lady Spikers on the shoreline, both teams concluded their respective stints with a record of 2-5 and 1-6, respectively. They now seek to move forward and improve during their off-season preparations for UAAP Season 89.
