Green Spikers yield to FEU
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Spikers (1–1) yielded to the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws (1–1) in extended sets, 22–25, 25–20, 23–25, 25–16, and 15–17, earlier today at the Paco Arena. With this result, the Green Spikers register their first loss in the V-League Preseason tournament.
It was a slow start for La Salle as the Tamaraws were up by two before Vince Maglinao opened up the scoring for the Green and White with a block. The Green Spikers were able to take the lead after an Eric Layug quick 7–6, but a JM Ronquillo attack error, tied the game again. Unforced errors plagued the Green Spikers throughout the set as after scoring a point, it would be erased by an error. Zhydryx Saavedra’s down-the-line and crosscourt hits kept FEU within one for most of the set, 15–16. Ronquillo’s block on Saavedra gave La Salle the lead, 18–17, but back-to-back errors soon gave the lead back to the Tamaraws, 19–21. Noel Kampton’s off-the-block hit looked to rally the Green Spikers, but Saavedra soon closed out the set with a crosscourt hit, 22–25.
Coming off the set loss, the Green Spikers immediately got to work with Ronquillo leading the charge via a check ball and a down-the-line hit, 2–1. Joshua Rodriguez’s running attack, and Kampton’s off-the-block hit, coupled with unforced errors from the Tamaraws led to La Salle being ahead by three during the first TTO, 8–5. From there, the Green Spikers continued to show dominance on both offense and defense, building a six-point lead after a Nathaniel Del Pilar quick, 12–6. La Salle kept the errors to a minimum to keep this separation but a Saavedra back row attack and Andrei Delicana regalo placed the Tamaraws within one, 17–16. For the next few sequences, Maglinao matched each of Saavedra’s attacks with off-the-block hits before Ronquillo from the back row landed a spike to give La Salle the set point. Rodriguez soon finished the set with another running attack, 25–20.
Riding off the momentum from the second set, La Salle asserted dominance at the start of the third, establishing a 5–2 lead. Del Pilar’s regalo, Maglinao’s off-the-block, and Ronquillo’s back-row attack established a four-point separation, 14–9. Likewise, Saavedra and Delicana both rallied FEU with through-the-block and back-row attacks to cut the deficit to two, 19–17. Both teams did not let up from that point forward as Kampton, Maglinao, and Saavedra responded to each other's attacks. Back-to-back attacks from Saavedra and a Delicana block eventually found the Green Spikers down by two sets, 23–25.
Determined to extend the match, the Green Spikers were more aggressive on offense to open up the fourth. The tandem of Maglinao and Ronquillo landed crosscourt and off-the-block hits to get La Salle into the first TTO with an 8–2 lead. The Green and White were relentless on both offensive and defensive attacks, while the Tamaraws struggled with unforced errors leading to DLSU their biggest lead, 21–11. Attack errors continued to plague the Green Spikers for a while before Glen Ventura introduced himself on the court with a kill, 22–15. Both teams committed errors in the last few sequences, but La Salle eventually took the set, 25–16.
FEU opened up the fifth set with more intensity as they established a 3–6 lead before consecutive attacks from Ronquillo shifted momentum to La Salle, 9–8. From there a Kampton block on Saavedra and unforced errors committed by the Tamaraws brought the score to 13–9. However, the Green Spikers then went on to commit errors of their own, allowing FEU to tie the game at 13-all. In the last few moments of the match, Saavedra and Maglinao exchanged off-the-block and down-the-line hits. However, it was Saavedra who would deliver the last blow giving La Salle their first loss of the tournament, 15–17.
The Green Spikers (1–1) will aim to bounce back against the San Beda Red Spikers (0–1) on August 27, 4 PM at the same venue.
Set scores: 22–25, 25–20, 23–25, 25–16, 25–17
Box scores:
DLSU 2 — Kampton 20, Maglinao 17, Ronquillo 14, Rodriguez 13, Del Pilar 5, Poquita 4, Layug 1, Guerrero (L) 0
FEU 3 — Saavedra 25, Delicana 16, Codilla 9, Bugaoan 8, Talisayan 5, Mendoza 3, Cacao 2, Garriedo 1, De Guzaman (L) 0
