LA SALLE left no room for suspense in its 25-14, 25-15, 26-24 obliteration of University of Santo Tomas in UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball on Sunday in front of a 15,350-strong Mall of Asia Arena.
The Lady Spikers overwhelmed the Golden Tigresses with massive scoring runs in all three sets, stretching their spotless start to two wins without dropping a single frame.
More than just a dominant victory, the result reaffirmed La Salle’s recent mastery over its España rival, extending its winning streak against UST to four straight meetings dating back to the second round of last season’s preliminaries.
But in the end, Shevana Laput finished what UST nearly stole.
Down a set point in the third, the Fil-Australian captain fired La Salle’s final three points on two emphatic blocks and a thunderous kill to slam the door on the Golden Tigresses’ late uprising.
Laput wound up with 22 points, including 10 in the third set alone, plus three digs in a match that was largely one-way traffic for the Taft side.
“We wanted to win this game. Of course, we want to win all our games in three sets and we knew that we had the capability to finish that set but we extended it. We just had to really show the Lasallian puso right there and there,” she said.
UST fired the first shots in the opening frame with a 5-3 lead, but La Salle responded with a blistering 14-6 run to erect a double-digit cushion and dictate the tone early.
The Golden Tigresses, powered by Angge Poyos’ 16-point effort, stayed within reach in the second frame and trailed just 16-13 at the second technical timeout.
But a decisive 9-2 surge sparked by Laput and Angel Canino, who finished with 13 points, pushed La Salle to a commanding two-set lead.
UST refused to fold in the third as Poyos dragged her side to a 21-all deadlock, setting up a tense exchange.
An attack error by Shane Reterta and a clutch attack from Xyza Gula gave the Tigresses two set points at 24-22, but that was as close as they would get.
Gula misfired on a wide hit before Laput delivered three straight points to close out the sweep.
Eshana Nunag orchestrated the offense with 16 excellent sets and three points as La Salle remained unbeaten.
Aside from Poyos, UST struggled to find consistent support as Reg Jurado was limited to seven points, while converted sophomore outside hitter Marga Altea added four.
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