Lady Spikers secure 12th straight Final Four stint after cruising past UE
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers earned their fourth consecutive win following a quick work of the already eliminated University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, 25–12, 25–19, 25–22, on Saturday, June 4, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
This pushed their win-loss record to 9–3, remaining unaccompanied at the second spot, but only with a precarious one game lead over a lurking UST side at the third spot with two more game days left in the elimination round.
La Salle continued to work as a team as this time, five players racked up at least eight points in the three-set victory. Thea Gagate and Alleiah Malaluan led the scoring spree with 12 points each, while the trio of Fifi Sharma, Leila Cruz, and Matet Espina each logged eight points.
Both teams exchanged points in the early part of the opening set. Gagate and Malaluan spearheaded their squad’s offense, but the six on the floor of the cellar-dweller UE team always had an answer. The Lady Spikers trailed the Lady Warriors, 6–8, at the first TTO. Mars Alba converted on a 1–2 play to finally put the Taft-based squad on top, 10–9. Her team subsequently gained momentum, stringing six unanswered points to head into the second TTO ahead, 16–10. They never looked back as four consecutive errors on the side of the red shirts followed by back-to-back points from Malaluan and a quick attack from Sharma ended Set 1 in favor of the green shirts, 25–12.
The Lady Spikers threatened to pull away at the onset of Set 2, taking an early 5–2 lead over the Lady Warriors. However, back-to-back errors from Cruz kept the latter within striking distance. Substitutions were made after the first TTO, where Julia Coronel and Erika Santos were able to contribute on a combination play that extended DLSU’s lead to five, 11–6. A service ace from Sharma and another play by Coronel to Gagate enabled their lead to balloon to double digits, 16–6. UE, anchored by Lana and Nieva, also had their mini runs coming from service aces and errors from La Salle to slowly chip their deficit, but the leadwas already huge as the Lady Spikers went on to claim Set 2, 25–19.
The third set saw a closer affair between the Rank 2 and the Rank 8 teams. Similar to Set 1, it was an exchange of points and mini runs as Cruz gave her team a 5–3 lead before Nieva and UE countered with a 4–3 run to trail DLSU by a solitary point, 8–7, at the first TTO. The red shirts tied the set at 10-all with a block by Navarro on Gagate, but La Salle rallied with five straight points to open up the gap once again. Cruz, Espina, and Malaluan each contributed in this stretch. However, Espina and Malaluan also committed errors later on which closed the gap to only two, 19–17, forcing head coach Ramil De Jesus to call a timeout. Gagate and Nieva traded attacks as the Recto-based squad tried to extend the match. But a combination play by Malaluan followed by a crucial error by Lana sent DLSU to match point, 24–21. Cruz finished off the set at 25–22.
Gagate said at the post-game interview, “Very thankful ako sa teammates ko kasi binibigyan nila ako ng kumpyansa. Tinake advantage namin kasi strength talaga yung middle.”
Despite winning in straight sets, assistant coach Benson Bocboc was not being complacent, “May mga adjustments pa tayo going to the next game. Nakita natin ngayon kung ano pa yung mga kulang.” Their remaining two games will be crucial.
On Tuesday, June 7, 4 PM at the same venue, the DLSU Lady Spikers will renew their rivalry with the Ateneo Lady Eagles in an attempt to improve their chances of earning a twice-to-beat advantage.
