MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Reigning champion La Salle made sure there would be no upset this time.

Embarrassed by UP last weekend, the Lady Spikers exerted their dominance over the skidding National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs with a straight-set win, 25-20, 25-18, 25-10, in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament on Wednesday, March 27, at the Filoil Flying V Centre. 

Desiree Cheng led La Salle with  17 points off 14 attacks, 2 aces and one block.

La Salle head coach Ramil de Jesus credited the team’s effort to believe in their own strengths despite coming off a humbling loss.

“Sa bawat composition ng team, iba yung strength. Kailangan natin maniwala sa team natin, maniwala sa sarili natin. Hindi kalaban ang magpapanalo sa atin, tayo ang gumalaw, tayo ang maghirap para manalo tayo,” said De Jesus.

(The strength of each team is different. We need to believe in our team and in ourselves. We can’t just rely on our opponents’ lapses to win, we have to be the ones to move, we have to be the ones who pour in the hard work to win.)

Compared to last Sunday’s 37 errors against UP, the Lady Spikers only tallied 10 errors in 3 sets.

Veteran Roselyn Doria was NU’s lone double-digit scorer with 11 points off 8 attacks, 2 aces and the team’s only block of the game.

The Lady Spikers took control all the way against the hapless Lady Bulldogs to grab a share of 2nd place with University of Santo Tomas at 6-3 as NU fell to 2-7 in the standings. 

The defending champions got off to a strong 8-3 start that basically dictated the tempo of the entire game. 

The Lady Bulldogs’ errors further bolstered La Salle’s momentum that allowed them to immediately cruise to a 2-0 match advantage. 

By the 3rd set, the Lady Spikers showed no mercy and got off to a 6-1 start before a massive 9-0 run proved to be the dagger that completed the demolition of NU. – Rappler.com