Lady Spikers come out dominating on top against UP

Tati Dulce
DLSU Sports
Published in
4 min readMar 1, 2023

After prevailing against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Tigresses to open their UAAP Season 85, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers continue to go for glory as they outlasted the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in straight sets, 25–14, 25–20, 25–14, at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

Starting off strong in Set 1 is Team Captain Mars Alba with a service ace and setting up a b-quick for Taft Tower Thea Gagate. A 4–0 scoreline made UP headcoach Shaq De Los Santos call an early time-out. UP finally gained their first attack point after three errors from La Salle as they tried to catchup before the Green and White gain a greater lead. Star Rookie Angel Canino soared with three straight points, and senior Jolina Dela Cruz did not disappoint with two dominating blocks before the second TTO.

As opposed to the previous game, Alba was able to utilize the middles with multiple quick attacks against UP. Julia Coronel was subbed in alongside Baby Jyne Soreño, both quick to make their presences known. UP struggled to catchup to La Salle’s massive 11-point lead, 24–13. The Taft-based squad bagged the first set, 25–14, after a service error from the Fighting Maroons.

Set two began in favor of the Green and White yet again with another quick play by the Alba and Gagate duo. Dela Cruz did not disappoint right after with a solid spike that helped La Salle gain the upperhand. The Fighting Maroons evened the set at nine-apiece, and overtook La Salle, 10–9, to force interim headcoach Noel Orcullo to call for time.

It was a close-game encounter before the second TTO in the second set. Leila Cruz, wanting to pull away with a smashing cross-court attack, but UP continued to hold on tight making sure to be within striking distance, 16–14. In a seesaw battle, La Salle maintained a two-point differential. To rally the Katipunan-based squad back, coach Shaq called for time. However, super rookie Angel Canino shut down that dream with three straight points, putting La Salle up by five, 24–19. Alba ended the set, 25–20, with a trick play, dropping the ball smoothly behind on the UP side,.

The third set started off with a service error from UP, followed by a service ace from Alba. The first TTO saw the Taft squad leading by six, 8–2. Although having a double digit disadvantage at 10–3, the Maroons continued to fight on trying to find a way to kill La Salle’s momentum, but strategic attacks kept coming in from the Green side. Fifi Sharma showed up with an a-quick, finding the hole in the center of the Maroons. UP continued their hustle with three straight points to lessen the gap to five, 15–10, and causing the Green and White to call for time just before the next technical. This made the Lady Spikers regain their footing as they take the next point.

With an eight-point lead, 18–10, for DLSU, the Maroons call a timeout where Coach Shaq instructed the team to stop rushing. Long rally at 19–10 ended with an attack error by Canino in the backrow, but La Salle took it back immediately afterwards. Opposite Spiker Shevanna Laput was subbed in at 20–12, making the first appearance this season. Co-rookie Amie Provido also provided extra help with a service ace to extend La Salle’s lead, 22–13. The 6'2 Laput gained her first attack point with a cross-court hit then another one with a block putting the Green and White on set point, 24–13. The last point went to DLSU as Laput ended the game with an off-the-block attack.

Rising star Canino took home the Player of the Game honors with 13 total points, having 11 attack points and two aces. This marks Canino’s back-to-back player of the game title in the first two games of Round 1 for UAAP Season 85.

The seniors of the Lady Spikers were asked about how they felt about Canino’s first game and they all answered that they were proud of how she performed. It showed her team how reliable she is even though she is a Rookie.

“Lahat naman pinaghandaan namin.” Coach Orcullo says in the post-game interview. “Kahit sino man yung kalaban. Tuloy-tuloy pa rin, pu-push pa rin yung mga bata hanggang sa limit nila. Papunta sa second round kailangan pataas at pataas ang lalaruin.”

Come see the DLSU Lady Spikers aim to dominate yet again as they play against their archrivals Ateneo Blue Eagles on March 5, Sunday, 3PM at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

Box Scores:

DLSU 75 —Canino 13, Dela Cruz 12, Gagate 10, Alba 6, Cruz 6, Sharma 4, Laput 3, Provido 1, Soreño 1

UP 48 — Bustrillo 10, Bertolano 7, Ytang 6, Encarnacion 5, Arce 3, Goc 1

Set Score: 25–14, 25–20, 25–14

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