La Salle, Ateneo spikers keep tie

Madeleine Madayag w/ Julia Morado of Ateneo at the Filoil arena in San Juan . INQUIRER PHOTO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Riding high after dealing National University its first loss three days ago, defending champion La Salle outclassed Adamson, 25-12, 25-16, 25-15, to tie Ateneo in second place in the UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Kim Dy unleashed a game-high 15 points while graduating playmaker Kim Fajardo dished out 37 excellent sets for the Lady Spikers, who upped their mark to 4-1.

“We just got our confidence back,” said La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus. “We lost it after our loss to UP before the team regained its confidence with a win over NU.”

Ateneo similarly finished off University of the East in straight sets, but got a surprise challenge late in the game,
25-14, 25-21, 25-21.

Mich Morente fired a game-high 13 points, including a hit off the block that put Ateneo at match point, 24-21.

Ateneo gave its head coach Tai Bundit, who arrived in Manila on Tuesday, a reason to celebrate in his first game back from Thailand.

“If you look at UE, you can get yourself in trouble because they really have a tall team,” said Ateneo deputy coach Sherwin Meneses in Filipino. “They really improved this year.”

The Lady Falcons just simply had no answers for the Lady Spikers’ offensive attacks with only one block to show.

Adamson also couldn’t get anything on the other end with Jema Galanza pacing the team with seven points on 28 tries.

The Lady Falcons remained winless, tying University of the East at the bottom of the standings at 0-5.