UAAP: La Salle scrapes past UP to get back on track in women’s volleyball
La Salle’s Angel Canino, right, during a game against UP in UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball.–UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–La Salle corrected its ship by defeating University of the Philippines (UP), 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 25-17, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“There’s no weak team in the UAAP today. Every game you play is a challenge,” La Salle assistant coach Noel Orcullo said in Filipino.
“Every team plays a high level so you cannot say that the opponent is weak that’s why you need to overcome whatever it is that your opponent is going to throw at you,” he added.
READ: UAAP: UST outlasts La Salle in five-set thriller
La Salle deputy coach Noel Orcullo, Angel Canino, Shevana Laput, and Lilay Del Castillo after bouncing back vs UP. #UAAPSeason87 @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/Mo5SF68DXj
— Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) March 2, 2025
Angel Canino was in her element with 24 points on 20 attacks and four blocks with Shevana backing her up with 21 points from 15 kills, three blocks and the same number of kills.
Lilay del Castillo was also productive with 11 points, proving a point with four blocks as well as aces.
“Kahit na galing kami sa talo and yung standing namin on edge din yung mindset talaga namin is one game at a time and every game naman ibang preparation naman yun and yung maganda lang ngayon is nagkakaroon na rin kami ng kumpiyansa as a team and sa sarili kaya sana madala din namin every game,” Canino said.
“We’re very happy with this win because again we’re coming from a loss but I believe our team is going in the right direction and we all just need to keep contributing, keep sticking to our system and doing our best because the fruits will come,” Laput said.
Lyka de Leon got the job done on defense with 18 excellent digs and 14 excellent receptions while Julyana Tolentino set her teammates up with 10 excellent sets.
READ: UAAP: Regaining confidence, La Salle gets bounce-back win
After a tight five-set loss to University of Santo Tomas, the Lady Spikers returned to their winning ways to level their record at 2-2.
It was a close game throughout and the Fighting Maroons showed their grit to even force a fourth set. But La Salle was determined to bounce back.
The Lady Spikers finally managed to pull away after a 4-0 spurt in the final set. An Irah Jaboneta service error started another run for La Salle capped by a huge block by Amie Provido on Joan Monares, 24-16.
Monares scored on a kill off the block for UP’s final point before Laput capitalized on an emphatic kill from the back row to seal the deal.
Irah Jaboneta paced the Fighting Maroons with 15 points apart from 11 excellent receptions and Joan Monares added 11 points, all but one from attacks as the Maroons dropped also to an even 2-2 standing after back-to-back losses.
La Salle aims to start a winning streak when it battles winless University of the East next on March 8 while UP hopes to end the skid facing streaking University of Santo Tomas on Wednesday, both in the same Pasay City venue.
