DLSU Lady Spikers dispatch National U in straight sets

MANILA, Philippines – The De La Salle University Lady Spikers put on a much better performance in the second game of their UAAP Season 77 women’s volleyball campaign by trouncing the National University Lady Bulldogs, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15, on Wednesday, November 26, at The Arena in San Juan City. 

Ara Galang led the Lady Spikers with 15 points while second-year standout Kim Dy finished with 10 points. Kim Fajardo and Mika Reyes put up 8 and 6 points, respectively.

National University was led by Jaja Santiago, who finished with 10 markers. Myla Pablo was the team’s second leading scorer with 7 points.

“Ngayon masaya ako sa linaro nang mga bata,” DLSU head coach Ramil De Jesus said after the game. (I’m happy with the way the kids played today.) 

In their season-opening win against the Adamson Lady Falcons last Sunday, November 23, La Salle looked lethargic during the first half of the game as they got off to slow start and lost in the second set. But against the Lady Bulldogs, the Lady Spikers took control of the game from the first set and didn’t relinquish the momentum.

Both teams exchanged scores throughout the first set, with La Salle holding a slim 21-20 advantage late in the period following a kill by Santiago. 

An ace by Cyd Demecillo put her team ahead by two, though the Lady Bulldogs quickly countered by converting a spike of their own. But in the next two rallies, the Lady Bulldogs had costly net errors that put the Lady Spikers ahead by three, 24-21.  

NU managed to convert another ace after to stop the bleeding, but a vital service error by Santiago in the subsequent play gave DLSU a 25-22 first set victory.

Unlike the first set where they trailed early, 5-2, La Salle didn’t waste time gaining the upper hand in the second quarter, as they raced off to a 7-3 start due to NU’s difficulty of attaining points against the Lady Spikers’ tremendous blocking. 

The Lady Bulldogs then started digging their own grave by wasting opportunities to score due to three straight errors, capped off by an attack by Santiago that sailed out of bounds. The Lady Spikers were already ahead by 8, 11-3, at that point and cruised to a 25-12 second set win to go on top, two sets to zero. 

DLSU followed the same script in the third set by scoring the first four points, and went on top 7-1 not long after thanks to conversions from Reyes and Galang.  

The Lady Spikers then controlled the rest of the way and finished the third set with a 25-15 victory to sweep the game. 

DLSU will be back in action on Sunday, November 30, when they take on eh UST Tigresses. NU, on the other hand, will face the UP Lady Maroons on Saturday, November 29. 

“Lahat dapat pag handaan,” De Jesus said about his team’s incoming duel with UST. (We have to prepare for everybody.) 

DLSU feasted on NU’s errors, which accounted for 27 of the Lady Spikers’ 75 points. La Salle also had more spikes, 28-25, block points, 9-7, and service aces, 11-1. 

Outside of scoring 8 points, Fajardo also had 25 sets, which was 10 more than the total of the entire NU team.

Scores:

DLSU (75): Galang 15, Dy 10, Fajardo 8, Reyes 6, Demecillo 6, Cheng 3 

NU (49): Santiago 10, Pablo 7, Mandapat 5, Singh 5, Dadang 4, Perez 1, Doromal 1

Set scoring: 25-22, 25-12, 25-15 

– Rappler.com