UAAP volley: La Salle dominates rival Ateneo to near first round sweep

MANILA, Philippines — La Salle inched closer to sweep off the first round Sunday after dominating rival Ateneo, 25-16, 25-20, 25-16, in the UAAP season 76 women’s volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Lady Spikers gave the Lady Eagles little chance to pull off a surprise as their superior blocking offset the surplus of errors, which helped them always pull away midway of each set.

Ateneo did get a taste of the lead in the third set, 8-6, but that was quickly erased by La Salle with a 5-0 blast and the Lady Spikers never trailed anew.

“We had a lot of errors because this was the first time the two teams are meeting since last year. The nervousness was there,” admitted coach Ramil De Jesus.

Mika Reyes led the Lady Spikers with 13 points, while Ara Galang and skipper Aby Maraño chipped in 10 and nine, respectively.

Only University of the East stand in the way of the Lady Spikers’ perfect first round bid, and what’s even more impressive is that they still haven’t dropped a set.

But De Jesus said churning out a perfect win each time isn’t what the Lady Spikers, the lone team who has a shot at an outright finals berth, are aiming for.

“We don’t think about that. Whatever is in front of us, we’ll do our best. We’re always prepared.”

The Lady Eagles, meanwhile, slipped for the second time in the first round as they were unable to match the Lady Spikers’ firepower.

Only league’s best scorer Alyssa Valdez finished in double digits with 11 points.