Shakey’s Super League: NU, La Salle unbeaten after contrasting wins

NU Lady Bulldogs in the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship. –HANDOUT PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Defending champion National University dominated its way to its second straight win, while La Salle needed to overcome a shaky outing in the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship on Friday at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The ‘three-peat’-seeking NU turned to Alas Pilipinas star Arah Panique to make quick work of the hapless Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-15, 25-7, 25-13, to join idle Arellano (2-0) on top of Pool A.

Panique led the way for the Lady Bulldogs with 10 points including eight from attacks and a pair of match-clinching aces to conspire with stars Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon, who added seven points each.

READ: Shakey’s Super League: NU off to winning start, Arellano goes 2-0

“The challenge now is that we still have a lot of errors, so we need to work on what’s still missing and what we need to improve,” said Panique, referring to their 22 errors.

The match only lasted for 77 minutes as NU dominated EAC in attacking, 41-11, and had 10 kills blocks and as many as aces. 

The Lady Generals remained winless in two games with only four players putting up points led by Alessandra Razonable’s five points.

La Salle Lady Spikers in the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship. –HANDOUT PHOTO

Meanwhile, La Salle recovered from a third set loss before taking down the gritty Letran, 25-7, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15, for a 2-0 lead in Pool C.

Angel Canino, who led the Lady Spikers with 15 points 11, two aces, and two blocks, said that they reminded each other what they’re playing for  after losing the third set to the NCAA runner-up with Gia Maquilang leading the Lady Knights’ gallant stand. 

“We just reminded ourselves that we came here with pride, so we needed to fight with pride in the fourth set because we had something to hold on to,” said Canino.

READ: Shakey’s Super League: Shevana Laput, Angel Canino lead La Salle to first win

“We tried to stay composed, communicate more, and not get rattled. When the coaches reminded us, it refreshed our minds on what we needed to do,” she added.

Shane Reterta sparked La Salle’s dominant fourth set with three straight points to finish the game with eight points. 

Katrina Del Castillo was also instrumental with nine points including three blocks. Amie Provido had five blocks to finish with eight points, while Shevana Laput added seven points 

Maquilang powered Letran with 17 points off 13 kills, three aces, and a block only for Letran to slide to a 1-2 record in Pool C.

In the final match of the day, the University of Santo Tomas clinched a ticket to the next round after edging out University of Perpetual Help, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 25-19.

Angge Poyos formed a potent combo with Reg Jurado, pouring in 15 points from 14 attacks and an ace, as the latter had 13 points including two blocks for a 3-0 record in Pool B, tying the unbeaten University of the East before their collision on Sunday.

Perpetual Help dropped to a 0-2 record with Cyrille Almeniana and Loraine Lagmay carrying the loads with 15 and 10 points, respectively.