DLSU books first Final 4 berth

In sweeping UP in Round 2 of UAAP women’s volleyball

Games on Sunday (April 5)
(UST Quadricentennial Pavilion)
9 a.m. – UST vs. UE (men)
11 a.m. – UST vs. UE (women)
3 p.m. – NU vs. ADU (men)
5 p.m. – NU vs ADU (women)

UNBEATEN De La Salle University (DLSU) can now head into a week-long break with one goal off of its checklist.

The mighty DLSU Lady Spikers clobbered the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, 25-15, 25-18, 25-20, and clinched the first Final Four ticket with still a slew of games left in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball on Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

La Salle needed only 84 minutes to achieve the feat, soaring to a 10-0 slate for now an inside track to a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four while staying on course to a two-round sweep for a possibility of clinching an automatic ticket in the best-of-three finals.

The power duo of Shevana Laput and Angel Canino connived once again with 16 and 15 points, respectively, as the Lady Spikers marched on to their 16th straight postseason appearance since 2009.

Middle Blocker Amie Provido backstopped them with 10 points on four swats while Shane Reterta and Lilay del Castillo contributed nine and eight points, respectively.

But La Salle is far from satisfied entering a UAAP pause in observance of the Holy Week, even with a steady drive so far to its redemption tour after a bridesmaid finish to back-to-back champion National University.

The Lady Spikers found no problem taking care of that business by pouncing on the UP Fighting Maroons with a 10-point margin in the first set. Not even UP’s stronger resistance mattered in the next two as La Salle’s experience was just too much to handle, running away from a 20-19 cushion on a fiery 5-1 closeout led by Ms. Canino.

La Salle also swept UP, 25-12, 25-15, 25-19, in the first round where it only lost a total of four sets. The Lady Spikers have dropped two sets so far this round, one each against Adamson University and University of Santo Tomas entering the last four games.

No player finished in double figures for UP, which surrendered five of its last six matches to lose steam in the Final Four race at 4-6.

Niña Ytang and Gelai Gajero were the lone bright spots with nine points each for the Fighting Maroons now in a scramble to catch up with Santo Tomas (5-4) and Adamson (6-4) for the last semifinal ticket.

La Salle tries to move closer to a 14-0 wipeout and an outright final berth against the formidable Far Eastern University (6-3) while UP spikes for a must-win match against the also-ran Ateneo de Manila University (1-9) on Wednesday (April 8) at the Mall of Asia Arena.

In the men’s division, Olayemi Raheem and Yoyong Mendoza scored 17 points each as La Salle tied Ateneo at No. 4 anew with similar 5-5 slates after a tough win against UP (3-7), 25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 26-24. — John Bryan Ulanday