MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers cruised through the game against the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors in straight sets, 25-8, 25-15, 25-12, on Saturday, March 24, at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

The defending champions aimed to finish off the game as they held a 12-1 lead over the Lady Warriors midway through the game capped off by a Desiree Cheng ace.

After UE cut the deficit, Cheng’s heroics stretched the lead to double-digits via back-to-back aces, 23-12. Season 79 MVP Majoy Baron sealed the win with a drop.

This is DLSU’s 10th straight post-season berth, with Season 76 giving them an outright finals berth as they swept the eliminations.

The Lady Spikers remain on top with a 9-2 record, while the Lady Warriors are at the verge of being eliminated with a 2-8 record in the UAAP Women’s Volleyball tournament.

Baron topscored with 13 points off 10 spikes and 3 blocks, followed by Kim Dy with 11 points.

The Lady Warriors only scored a combined total of 15 points with Shaya Adorador leading the team with 5 points.

Dawn Macandili won the battle of best liberos as she made 19 excellent digs, while Kath Arado kept up with 15 excellent digs.

After Seth Rodriguez scored to give UE its first 4 points, the Lady Spikers went on a 7-0 run to give DLSU a 10-point lead. The Lady Warriors managed to take two 3 points during DLSU’s run, and the Lady Spikers answered back with another set of 7 unanswered points to quickly take the 1-0 lead in the match.

Errors plagued the Lady Spikers in the 2nd set, giving them a tougher challenge to take the set. The DLSU bench players were able to shine in this set as May Luna gave the Lady Spikers the 11-point lead and Norielle Ipac brought DLSU to set point, 24-14.

The Scores:

DLSU (3) – Baron 13, Dy 11, Cheng 9, Tiamzon 7, Ogunsanya 6, Cobb 3, Luna 1, Tiu 1, Instrella 1, Ipac 1.

UE (0) – Adorador 5, Rodriguez 4, Mendrez 3, Abil 2, Bendong 1.

– Rappler.com