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La Salle foils UST's title retention bid in women's volleyball


La Salle fans whoop it up after the Lady Spikers defeated the UST Tigresses. GMA News
De La Salle University (DLSU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) are both celebrating their respective foundation milestones this year, but it's the Lady Archers who will have a memorable party. La Salle's Lady Spikers pounced on the Tigresses' lackluster performance to foil UST's title defense bid in straight sets, 25-18, 25-17, 28-26, to complete a two-game sweep of their best-of-three championship series in the 73rd UAAP volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Saturday. La Salle will be commemorating its 100th year of presence in the Philippines while UST recently celebrated its quadricentennial (400th year). The Tigresses vowed to extend the title series to a deciding Game 3 after losing the opener in five hard-fought sets. But compared to their Game 1 loss, UST fared even worse in matching La Salle's intensity for the entire match. It was only in the third set that the Tigresses managed to threaten the Lady Archers. Behind an 8-1 run, UST took control and was at set-point, 24-19, after a Maru Banaticla block and an Abigail Marano error. La Salle, however, countered with six straight points, highlighted by Stephanie Mercado’s three kills, to regain the upperhand and reach match point, 25-24. But UST would not go down that easily, managing to tie the score twice, the last at 26-all. Michelle Gumabao then scored on a down-the-line hit before skipper Charleen Cruz sealed La Salle's victory with a drop shot.
The UST Tigresses sit on the bench pondering their loss against La Salle. GMA News
"I give credit to my players, since they really wanted to finish the series," said La Salle coach Ramil De Jesus in Filipino. "Having Maria Mikaela Esperanza as our setter did wonders for the team. Even though she's a rookie, she showed she can play under pressure. I have nothing but praises for her," added De Jesus of Esperanza, who was named the season’s top rookie. For the first time this season, no player from UST finished in double figures, with last year's Most Valuable Player Aiza Maizo being held to a season-low seven points. Judy Anne Caballejo paced UST’s losing cause with nine points, followed by Banaticla's eight markers. It was La Salle's sixth overall title under De Jesus. – JVP, KY, GMA News
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