Almost there

La Salle added to listless University of Santo Tomas’ woes on Sunday night after a straight sets win, and the powerhouse defending champion Lady Archers could prove too much to handle for anyone in the Final Four after zeroing in on a twice-to-beat edge in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament.

The Lady Spikers pounded out a 25-23, 25-23, 25-22 victory over the Tigresses at Filoil Flying V Centre to rise to 10-2 even as the National U Lady Bulldogs snapped a five-game slide after a 26-24, 26-24, 25-20 win over the University of the East Lady Warriors earlier.

La Salle won a sixth straight game and remained in the lead. With two games to go, it has the inside track on one of two twice-to-beat berths after dealing UST a ninth loss in 13 games.

Team captain Kim Kiana Dy scored 12 points for La Salle, which went on a team-building activity during the Lenten break.

“We really bonded as a team and we got to know each other better,” said Dy. “And it has an effect [for us] on the court.”

Dy said La Salle “is still not yet 100 percent, we need to improve on many aspects of the game and be more aggressive.”

To seal a twice-to-beat edge, La Salle must win at least one of its two remaining games—against Adamson and archrival Ateneo.

National U finally won in the second round when also-ran UE came up with an uninspired effort.

“It was a big relief that finally we got over the losing streak,” said Jaja Santiago who delivered 22 points in the Lady Bulldogs’ seventh win in 13 games.

NU led the first round with a 6-1 record only to go on a tailspin in the second round.

The win also allowed the Lady Bulldogs to stay in fourth spot, which they can seal with a win over Far Eastern University when they end their classification assignment.

Otherwise, Adamson can force a playoff if the Lady Falcons prevail over the Lady Spikers.