La Salle’s Angel Canino. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—La Salle found Adamson a tough customer before squeezing out a grueling come-from-behind win 25-17, 25-27, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9, to grab the twice-to-beat edge in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball.
Angel Canino fired a career-high 28 points, 22 of them attacks mostly done in the crucial stretches when the Lady Spikers mounted a fightback in the last two sets.
Thea Gagate also had a personal-best of 22 points and added three blocks while Jolina Dela Cruz pummeled the Adamson side with 21 points, including three aces, apart from 13 excellent receptions on the defensive end.
“We had several lapses in the second set, giving Adamson the breaks and the confidence,” said La Salle assistant coach Noel Orcullo after the Lady Spikers picked up their 11th victory against a loss, good enough to seize the twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals.
“But we persevered and pulled ourselves to get the win. It was a test of character for us,” added Orcullo.
With renewed confidence after taking the fourth set, the Lady Spikers rattled off eight straight points and erased any advantage Adamson had, highlighted by two crucial aces by Dela Cruz and Canino’s non-stop assault.
Canino’s ace put them within a point of closing it out before Dela Cruz punctuated the triumph with one of her signatory down-the-line projectiles.
“We made mistakes early and made sure not to repeat them during the most crucial stretch. The good thing about this was we saw our ability to come back from that type of situation,” said Canino, who also posted five blocks, six digs and 19 receptions.
The Lady Falcons fell to 8-4, their chances for a twice-to-beat advantage hanging in the balance, but are very much in the hunt for a Final Four appearance.
Angel Canino, La Salle Lady Spikers celebrate during their second-round clash with Adamson in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament. UAAP PHOTO
Canino concluded the first set for the Lady Spikers with three consecutive attacks, the last one an authoritative strike that nearly knocked off Kate Santiago.
The Lady Falcons first tasted the lead following a Lorence Toring ace and a striking error by Canino, 20-19, but the Lady Spikers quickly leveled the count and took command in a long exchange capped by Canino’s deflection of Trisha Tubu’s smash.
Errors then hounded La Salle with back-to-back hits by Canino and Jyne Soreno flying beyond the line, giving Adamson the opportunity to reverse the outcome in the second set.
Tubu sneaked in a heavy-handed crosscourt that evened up matters going into the third frame.
The Lady Falcons then mustered a great deal of courage, charging ahead with a variety of forays anchored on Aprylle Tagsip and Santiago as La Salle found itself at a disadvantage.
Gagate’s lightning-fast kill and a Santiago spike that flew inches after the end line tied the count at 22, made worse by an Adamson blunder that put the Lady Spikers on top.
But the satisfaction that La Salle got wiped out immediately as Santiago and Lucille Almonte delivered back-to-back hits prior to Tagsip’s hammering blow at set point.
The Lady Spikers seized control early in the fourth set through the relentless shelling of Dela Cruz and Canino before Adamson threatened with Santiago’s creativity.
Adamson’s ever-reliable outside hitter drove a down-the-line spike followed by a La Salle error to cut down the lead before Gagate rushed to the net and hammered down a point off a broken play, stretching the match to the limit.