MANILA, Philippines—De La Salle made sure that there would be a sense of normalcy in the Final Four race of the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament when it faced University of Santo Tomas.
The Lady Spikers took care of business against University of Santo Tomas, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24, Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena that broke the tie for the no.2 seed with a 7-3 record.
The win put La Salle in the right track as the elimination round winds down since a loss coul could’ve sent the Lady Spikers to as low as fourth place.
“Obviously it’s very important because if we lost this one it would be hard for us to get back up,” said Cheng in Filipino.
There was a stretch in the tournament when La Salle, UST, Far Eastern University, and University of the Philippines were either all tied up in the second spot.
The Lady Spikers’ win, coupled with UP’s loss to Ateneo on Saturday, broke the logjam with the Lady Spikers now in solo second with the Lady Tamaraws holding the third seed.
“It was important for us to get this win because it’s not just for our team standing but also for our confidence, we won’t be down that much,” said Cheng, who had 20 points in the win.
“We have to be more consistent going forward and I hope that we will play like this throughout the rest of the season. I feel like that the deeper we go into the season the stronger the other teams are getting.”