Lady Spikers tame Golden Tigresses for ninth straight win

MANILA, Philippines — La Salle remains unstoppable in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament.

The Lady Spikers rolled to their ninth straight win in the season after outlasting the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses, 25-12, 18-25, 25-23, 25-14, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

La Salle thus inched closer to a Final Four berth as the squad snapped a three-game winning streak by UST.

Angel Canino powered La Salle with 17 points on 15 attacks and two blocks, to go with seven digs and five receptions. Shevana Laput backstopped with 14 markers and five digs.

“During the third set, niremind ko lang yung mga bata. Sabi ko, very aggressive ang mga kalaban, kaya every situation, ilaban natin,” La Salle head coach Ramil de Jesus told reporters after the match.

“Gawan ng paraan kung hindi bagay dun sa mga dumadating na in-expdct nila. Ilaban lang hanggang maipanalo ang situation, and then nag-work naman, unti-unting ginapang ang score hanggang dumating dun sa endgame,” he added.

With the two teams trading the first two sets, UST put itself in a great position in the third set.

They took a 20-12 lead after an Angge Poyos kill.

But the Lady Spikers climbed out of the hole, tying things up at 21-all with a massive 9-1 run.

An off-the-block attack by Reg Jurado, followed by an attack error by Laput, pushed UST back ahead, 23-21, but La Salle, led by Lilay del Castillo, Shane Reterta and Canino, combined for four straight points to grab the 2-1 lead, 25-23.

The Lady Spikers, then, jumped to a 7-0 lead in the fourth set and never looked back.

An error by UST iced the match for La Salle.

Poyos finished with 20 points on 19 attacks and a block. She also had 12 receptions and five digs. Jurado had 12 points, while Cassie Carballo tossed up 19 excellent sets to go with seven points.

UST dropped to 5-4 in the standings as it stayed put at the fourth seed. La Salle rose to 9-0.

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