Lady Spikers, Tigresses recover winning groove

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Defending champion La Salle and University of Santo Tomas wasted no time bouncing back from stinging defeats, hammering out straight-sets victories on Wednesday in UAAP women’s volleyball at Filoil Flying V Centre.

The three-time defending champion didn’t take chances against a young National University side that pushed the Lady Spikers to five sets in the first round, methodically dismantling the Lady Bulldogs this time, 25-20, 25-18, 25-10.

“I guess we just got reminded that the season is not yet over, and losing thrice doesn’t mean we’re done,” said La Salle team captain Desiree Cheng, who drilled in 17 points on a remarkable 70-percent kill rate.

La Salle committed just 10 errors the entire game, a world of difference from 37 errors it made in losing to University of the Philippines last week.

“We entered the [UP] match with no pride and not realizing the name printed in front of our uniforms,” said Cheng.

UST, which was a point from sweeping Ateneo in its last outing before losing in five sets, took its ire out on Adamson University, 25-15, 25-12, 25-16.

Unlike in that loss to the league-leading Lady Eagles, UST didn’t rely too much on explosive scorer Sisi Rondina and rookie Eya Laure this time.

Instead, rookie playmaker Fe Galanza gave lefty hitters Caitlyn Viray and Dimdim Pacres a lot of looks at the ball and both responded with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Rondina, playing decoy perfectly, scored 10 points after wasting a 35-point output against Ateneo. Laure led the Tigresses with 17.