Lady Spikers bomb Lady Warriors in 3 sets

LA SALLE found an easy target in University of the East and quickly hacked out a 25-10, 25-13, 25-21 triumph Sunday to gain solo second in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Even if the game looked like a mismatch—the Lady Spikers zoomed to a whopping 20-10 advantage in the second set—La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus wanted his wards to sustain their high level of play.

“We’re not looking at the [standings],” said De Jesus. “What we need is to polish our game even more.”

Mika Reyes and Ara Galang combined for 19 points as the Lady Spikers improved to 4-1, just a game behind the perfect 5-0 card of defending champion Ateneo.

In the other women’s game, Far Eastern University needed five sets to dispose of University of the Philippines, 27-25, 21-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-12, and climb to a share of third at 3-2.

Although UP’s highly touted rookies again came to the fore, the Lady Tamaraws kept their poise behind Bernadeth Pons and Toni Rose Basas, who each finished with a game-high 21 points.

The duo accounted for more than half of the Lady Tamaraws’ 62 attacks as Remy Palma also delivered by scoring two of the Lady Tamaraws’ last three points in the deciding set.

In men’s action, Ateneo and Adamson downed separate foes to forge a three-way tie on top at 4-1 with idle National University.

Marck Espejo and Josh Villanueva teamed up for 25 points as the Blue Eagles drubbed the Maroons, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21.

The Falcons clipped the Green Archers, 25-9, 24-26, 32-30, 27-25, with Michael Sudaria firing 16 points.