MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) – The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers trounced archrivals Ateneo Lady Eagles in straight sets, 26-24, 25-17, 25-19, on Sunday, April 15, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
La Salle was trailing Ateneo in the 3rd set until substitute middle blocker Julia Ipac scored back-to-back attacks to edge out the Lady Eagles by the second technical timeout. Ateneo continued to collapse with errors as Majoy Baron brought it to match point and Desiree Cheng ended the game for La Salle.
The Lady Spikers will advance to the Final 4 as the top seed, finishing the eliminations with a 12-2 record. The Lady Eagles fell to 3rd place with a 9-5 record and failed to clinch the twice-to-beat advantage for the first time in 4 years.
With Ateneo's loss, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws are officially the second seeded team with the twice-to-beat advantage.
Kim Dy led the Lady Spikers with 13 points, followed by Cheng with 12 points. Michelle Cobb outplayed Deanna Wong in the setting department with 24 excellent sets to 14 while making 7 points off 4 blocks and 3 aces.
Kat Tolentino did most of the work for Ateneo, scoring 15 points off 11 spikes, 3 aces, and one block. Dani Ravena made her first appearance in the second round and she made 11 excellent digs.
The Lady Spikers broke away from the stalemate and reached set point up by 4, 24-20. Ateneo turned it back with a 4-0 run capped off by a Jho Maraguinot ace to extend the set. Maraguinot's service error gifted DLSU with its second set point and Baron closed the set with a quick.
The reigning champions made quick work of the Lady Eagles as they capitalized on Ateneo's errors, pulling away to a 10-point lead, 20-10. The Lady Eagles rallied back too late as their back-to-back errors also gave DLSU a 2-0 advantage.
The Scores:
DLSU (3) – Dy 13, Cheng 12, Tiamzon 11, Baron 9, Cobb 7, Ipac 4.
Ateneo (0) – Tolentino 15, Madayag 8, Maraguinot 6, Samonte 6, Wong 5, De Leon 3, Gequillana 1.
– Rappler.com
