With one victory, La Salle sealed the top two slots in the Final Four of the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday.
The defending champions took back the No. 1 spot in the standings after sweeping University of Santo Tomas, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21, at Filoil Flying V Centre—a victory that gave the Lady Spikers a twice-to-beat semifinal bonus.
La Salle notched its 10th win in 12 games and in doing so, it handed idle rival Ateneo the other Final Four bonus and left four other squads to scramble for the last two semifinal berths.
Although tied for the lead in win-loss terms, the Lady Eagles are second on points with 29, one down on the Lady Spikers’ 30. But with both squads still to cross paths in the final elimination round playdate, it is unlikely that the No. 1 squad will go to a battle of points collected.
The Tigresses slipped to 7-5 and are tied with National U and University of the Philippines for third to fifth places.
A full game behind the trio is Far Eastern U, which kept its Final Four hopes alive after whipping University of the East, 25-14, 25-18, 27-25, in the first game.
Everything was humming for La Salle against UST and the Lady Spikers hardly felt the need to worry until the third set, when the team lost star Kim Dy to a sprained right ankle. The Lady Spikers were up, 6-4, when they lost Dy, who finished with 12 points.
“It was a mild sprain and I hope she can play on Saturday,” said La Salle head coach Ramil De Jesus.
Desiree Cheng led La Salle with 13 points while Tin Tiamzon chipped in 11.
Cherry Rondina had 13 points to lead UST with EJ Laure and Dimdim Pacres combining for 21.
The Lady Tamaraws face a tough climb to the semifinals, needing to win their last two games and hoping that only one of the three teams ahead of them gets to nine wins.
“This, for me, is really a challenge; but we don’t look at it as something to feel anxious about,” said FEU head coach Shaq Delos Santos. “We just have to be prepared for our upcoming games.”
Bernadeth Pons filled up the stat sheet for the Lady Tamaraws with 15 points, 15 digs, and six receptions while Jeanette Villareal had 11 points.
Shaya Adorador had 11 points to lead the Lady Warriors, who lost for the 11th time in 12 outings.