MANILA, Philippines – A five-set heartbreaker at the hands of the UST Golden Tigresses left a bad taste in the La Salle Lady Spikers’ mouths.

And that is an experience La Salle does not want to go through again.

Displaying steely nerves, the Lady Spikers hacked out a 15-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 15-12 win over the NU Lady Bulldogs in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, March 16.

Shevana Laput, Angel Canino, Amie Provido, and Alleiah Malaluan all scored in double figures as La Salle closed out the first round at second place with a 6-1 record, with its only loss coming from the league-leading Tigresses.

“We cannot just rely on our lead. Just like what happened against UST, we were up but we still lost. That is the biggest lesson for us,” said Canino in Filipino.

Trailing 0-2 against the Tigresses, the Lady Spikers almost pulled off a stunning comeback as they won the third and fourth sets and grabbed a commanding 12-9 lead in the deciding salvo.

But instead of getting the job done, La Salle fell apart and allowed UST to steal the victory on the back of an unprecedented 6-0 run.

The Lady Spikers faced the same scenario against NU as they overcame a 2-1 set deficit and built a sizable 13-9 lead in the fifth.

Having learned its lesson the hard way, La Salle held its nerve and banked on big hits by Canino and Laput to clinch its fourth consecutive triumph.

Laput starred for the Lady Spikers in the rematch of the Season 85 finale as she unloaded 20 points off 18 attacks, while Canino – the reigning MVP – churned out 17 points (14 attacks, 2 aces, and 1 block).

“We learned that we cannot be complacent. We have to keep working harder than the other team. It is also about who wants it more. We want it more,” said Laput.

Provido shone on the defensive end as 5 of her 14 points came off blocks, while Malaluan chimed in 12 points, with La Salle benefitting from the improved playmaking of Julia Coronel, who delivered 22 excellent sets.

Coronel also tallied 4 blocks to help the Lady Spikers’ snap the Lady Bulldogs’ five-game winning streak.

Alyssa Solomon and Bella Belen carried the scoring load for NU with 21 and 20 points, respectively, but the Season 84 champions simply ran out of gas in the deciding set.

NU ended the first round at third place with a 5-2 card. – Rappler.com