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MANILA, Philippines – Not this time.
The De La Salle University Lady Spikers are one win away from raising the championship trophy for the fourth straight time as they avenged their Game 1 loss to Ateneo de Manila, running away as 25-14, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24 winners in Game 2 of the 76th UAAP Women’s Volleyball tournament Finals, Saturday, March 8, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Ara Galang, after falling short of the MVP race this year, proved her worth for the Taft Avenue crew as she scattered 17 points in the game to lead La Salle to a four-set win and snap Ateneo’s eight-game winning streak.
Team skipper Aby Marano – who, along with Galang, was adjudged as last year’s MVP – likewise vented her ire on the shell-shocked Loyola side, finishing with 11 markers that included the telling hits in the fourth set to hit back on Ateneo who sent their 30-game winning streak to a halt last Wednesday.
The Lady Eagles entered the court scorching as Ella de Jesus opened the game with back-to-back aces to lead Ateneo to a 3-0 run but the reigning champions poured cold water on Ateneo’s early run, taking the driver seat behind Mika Reyes’ efforts and end the first set on a 7-1 blast.
La Salle continued to roll into the second set as they put on a balanced scoring but the Katipunan Avenue side kept up with the Lady Spikers to stay within striking distance midway into the frame.
Ateneo, however, was dealt a major blow when Best Receiver and Digger Denden Lazaro injured her ankle, causing her to sit out most of the second and third sets to give La Salle a chance to pull away to a two-set advantage.
Both squads then engaged in a tight third set as newly-minted Season 76 MVP Alyssa Valdez, who struggled in the early goings, found her groove and exchanged hits with Galang and Marano.
Momentum shifted to the Ateneo side when Lazaro – who was still limping on the court – came back to play and put on an inspired performance to lead her squad to a 25-18 third frame win.
The Lady Eagles’ celebration, however, was shortlived as coach Ramil de Jesus’s girls turned a 9-all deadlock to a 23-20 cushion but La Salle almost blew their advantage after committing big errors that allowed Ateneo to pull within two, 24-22.
Valdez then tried to turn things around for the Loyola side as she poured in three consecutive aces to negate La Salle’s matchpoint and tie the match at 24-apiece. The Batangas-native, however, flubbed the following serve to hand the Lady Spikers the fourth set, 26-24, and the Game 2 of the Finals.
Reyes added 11 points for DLSU with Galang adding nine digs on top of her 16 attacks and one block.
Ateneo, on the other hand, relied on Valdez’ 15 points but no other Lady Eagle finished in double digits with Marge de Jesus and Amy Ahomiro contributing nine points each. Despite her injury, Lazaro put up a game-high 11 digs while Julia Morado delivered 17 sets.
Both teams will square off for Game 3 on Wednesday, March 12 at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Rappler.com
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