The De La Salle University Lady Archers neutralized the University of Santo Tomas’ star Eya Laure to defeat the Golden Tigresses, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-8, and nab the second spot in the standings of the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament on Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
After a mishap in the third set, La Salle made sure that there will be no repeat of its 24-26, 22-25, 25-27, 25-23, 15-12 meltdown against UST back on May 12.
The Lady Spikers built a 15-point cushion, 23-8, off an Erika Santos hit. UST’s Eya Laure and Mafe Galanza then committed errors to hand La Salle the set and the win.
“I think yung lumabas sa amin dito is yung more of the consistency ng team following up doon sa mga previous matches namin na na straight sets,” said Lady Spikers assistant coach Benson Bocboc. “So far, going up yung mga performance ng mga players and nagkataon ngayon na may lumabas na naman na mga scorers.”
Mars Alba distributed the ball well for La Salle, ending up with 25 excellent sets while also producing five double-digit scorers in the game that put the Taft-based spikers at solo second with an 8-3 standing.
Leila Cruz introduced herself with 15 points to lead the Lady Spikers in scoring while the massive duo of Fifi Sharma and Thea Gagate produced 15 points each. Jolina Dela Cruz, on the other hand, finished with a triple-double of 11 points, 14 excellent digs, and 10 excellent receptions while Alleiah Malaluan had 10 points and 10 excellent receptions.
This was a crucial victory for La Salle as it finally registered its first win against UST since the battle for second seed during Season 81. The Lady Spikers also handed the Golden Tigresses their lowest set output with just eight in the fourth set.
La Salle was on its way to a sweep after bagging the first two sets but was later on denied by UST, who leaned on Ypril Tapia and Imee Hernandez to steal the third set.
Hernandez and Tapia led the way for the Golden Tigresses with 12 points apiece. Meanwhile, Laure was held to just eight points – her worst outing of the season – as UST slipped to 7-4 to remain at the third spot.
