La Salle gets back at UAAP Finals tormentor NU with rare beating

La Salle easily overcame the big hurdle and made defending champions National University (NU) look awful.

But the Lady Spikers tend to quickly erase the euphoria of a clinical 25-10, 25-15, 25-21 victory on Wednesday at the crowded Mall of Asia Arena that completed the first round of the UAAP women’s volleyball Season 85. tournament task.

“I keep reminding myself that this game is over and the next game will be very different, so we don’t have to stay on Cloud 9 for too long,” La Salle interim coach Noel Orcullo said when asked about the win.

The first-round sweep also erased the stigma of unpleasant memories at the hands of the Lady Bulldogs last season, where La Salle was swept in the best-of-three title series without winning a set.

And a big reason for the new Angel Canino, who finished with 14 points, highlighted by 11 attacks, with veterans Thea Gagate, Fifi Sharma and Jolina dela Cruz got a share of the limelight in the winning statement.

‘proud of us’

Team captain Mars Alba spread the attack with 20 excellent sets, Ylizyeth Jazareno had 15 digs behind the defense while Gagate and Leila Cruz registered three blocks for the Lady Spikers, who won their first after five matches against NU since Season 81.

“I am really proud of us. But we still have to focus on our single goal, which is to win the championship this season, so don’t sensationalize a win like this,” said Sharma. “There are a lot of other games that we have to play in order to achieve what we need to achieve.”

NU suffered a second loss at the end of the first round, a loss that the Lady Bulldogs could not experience since 2020 as they will open their second round rivalry with a draw against the Adamson Lady Falcons and the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses at 5-2.

And the Lady Bulldogs will have to make a quick comeback, as they face the Lady Spikers again on Saturday to open the semifinals of the elimination round schedule.

“We were shaken. It hurt. We have to prepare better if we want better results. We have to get our hunger back,” said NU’s Michaela Belen, last season’s rookie-Most Valuable Player who led her school to an undefeated campaign.

The Lady Spikers went straight to work after the first serve, taking the first set in dominant fashion through the attacking brilliance of Canino and Cruz.

Quite dominant

After scoring eight straight points, La Salle barely met any resistance and went ahead, 20-10, before the Cruz-Canino combo struck.

A Cruz spike off the block and a Canino drop gave the Lady Spikers a rare set win against the defending champions. They failed to take a set from NU all last season.

“Our first round was really shaky. La Salle deserved to win. You can see that they are very prepared and they are eager to win. This will motivate them and make adjustments on Saturday,” said NU coach Karl Dimaculangan.

The storyline did not go NU’s way in a successful frame with Sharma delivering the points they needed in the second set, including an ace to give La Salle a 12-5 lead.

Belen and Princess Robles pulled the Lady Bulldogs within six, only for errors to take them down.

Dela Cruz sealed the second set by deflecting Robles’ power shot at the net.

“After we win a big game, we keep telling the players that the joy should subside immediately the next day. We will be ready on Saturday,” Orcullo said.

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