La Salle’s Baby Jyne Soreno. –UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Baby Jyne Soreno is motivated to fill the void left by teammate Leila Cruz, who is out of the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament indefinitely due to an ACL injury in her right knee.
Soreno returned to the starting six and made her presence felt with eight points in La Salle’s 30-28, 25-12, 28-26 victory over Far Eastern University on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“I’m very motivated because our coaches and teammates push me to fill in the void left by Leila. This is for Leila,” said the third year opposite spiker in Filipino. “I’m willing to support and contribute to the team inside the court.”
Before earning their ninth straight victory, the Lady Spikers were pushed to the limits by the gritty Lady Tamaraws, especially in the first and third sets.
Injured Leila Cruz o the La Salle Lady Spikers bench. –UAAP PHOTO
Soreno admitted she struggled at first but she was able to find her rhythm in the end, scoring half of her points in the third set.
“At first, I played off but in the end, I leaned on my strong personality. I played my heart out and trusted myself. We also stuck to our system,” she said in Filipino.
Soreno is replacing Cruz in the starting line-up after the latter scored 37 points in the first eight games and she was a top-10 blocker with 0.44 blocks per set.
La Salle tries to clinch a Final Four berth against University of Santo Tomas on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.