La Salle trips pesky UST for second straight win

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Defending champion De La Salle notched its second straight win in the UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament after overcoming pesky University of Santo Tomas, 25-23, 16-25, 25-14, 25-22, Saturday at San Juan Arena.

The Lady Spikers joined early leaders National University and University of the Philippines atop the standings while the Golden Tigresses remained in search of their first win as they sit at 0-2.

Despite the win, La Salle head coach Ramil De Jesus expressed disappointment with how his team slacked off when they were up big down the stretch, something his previous players had never allowed.

“Our core is now gone and right now we still have so many areas that we need to fix if ever we want to match the level we were in last year,” said De Jesus.

La Salle had a comfortable 18-5 lead in the fourth set but allowed UST to cut it back to just two, 22-20.

Kim Dy extended the buffer, 23-20, with a quick hit from the middle before Desiree Cheng sealed the match for the the Lady Spikers.

Though La Salle was outscored in the spikes department, 54-39, the Lady Spikers made up for it with a 10-4 advantage in blocks and a 10-3 lead in the service department.

Kim Dy finished with a game-high 16 points while Tin Tiamzon and Mary Joy Baron had 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Cherry Rondina and EJ Laure had 13 points apiece to lead UST.