UAAP FINALS: La Salle, FEU spikers get job done

INQUIRER PHOTO/ August dela Cruz

MANILA, Philippines—La Salle, getting a big lift from skipper Charleen Cruz, turned an expected tight duel into a rout as it crushed Ateneo, 25-16, 25-22, 25-13, Wednesday to retain the UAAP women’s volleyball title.

The Lady Archers frustrated the Lady Eagles with their rock-solid defense, while Cruz came through on attack to power the Archers to the crown with a game to spare before a sellout crowd at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

In the other match, Far Eastern U dethroned University of Santo Tomas with a marathon 25-27, 25-15, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13 triumph in the men’s finals.

Jay-R Labrador, Arvin Avila and Karl Ian Dela Calzada delivered for the Tamaraws, combining for 53 hits as FEU took the series, 2-1.

La Salle went into the series with a thrice-to-beat advantage—an incentive for sweeping the elimination round—but the Green Archers fell in Game 1 before winning the next two to wrap up their seventh title since 1997.

Cruz had 12 points, 11 off hits, while Michelle Gumabao had seven.

For La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus, the Lady Archers got half the job done with their intensive preparation.

“This (title) is just the reward for our hard work,” said De Jesus. “All our matches were difficult, but we won this championship because we worked hard in training.”

La Salle looked every bit the championship team right from the get-go, dominating at the net behind Cruz and Gumabao.

Pushed to the limit in the second set, the Lady Archers won two long rallies to take a 2-0 lead.

The Lady Archers neutralized Ateneo’s hitting with Alyssa Valdez limited to just 10 hits in 47 attempts. La Salle also had five more block points with nine.