Raising their level

Barangay level? Not anymore.

La Salle bounced back from a shocking defeat by dominating fierce rival Ateneo, 25-20, 25-17, 24-26, 25-20, Saturday night in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament—and putting behind it a bitter tongue-lashing from its coach.

After losing in a stunning upset to Adamson, the Lady Spikers were on the receiving end of criticism from coach Ramil de Jesus, who described their game as “barangay level.”

At a jampacked Mall of Asia Arena, La Salle raised its quality and made its coach take back the criticism with a performance so strong, even its worst set was marked with a highlight stretch.

“It’s not barangay level anymore; the desire to win is UAAP level,” said de Jesus in Filipino after the match where 18,537 fans watched the Lady Spikers grab a piece of second place with a 5-2 record.

La Salle tied Far Eastern University, which plucked its fourth straight victory at the expense of struggling University of Santo Tomas, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20, in the earlier game.

“There are still a lot of things to improve on,” said FEU coach George Pascua in Filipino. “We need to step up because it’s going to be more difficult in the second round.”

Both the Lady Tamaraws and the Lady Spikers are half a game behind league-leading National U.

“We went to the game asking  ‘who are we?’ We are the defending champions,” said La Salle’s Kim Kianna Dy, who finished with 21 points. “Tonight we just remembered who we are.”

The Lady Spikers trailed by 10, 11-21, in the third set which they eventually lost, but even then, Des Cheng served La Salle back into contention—and to match point, before being forced to a fourth set.