LA SALLE chalked up back-to-back wins following a 25-21, 25-18, 25-10 sweep of University of the East in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Angel Canino led the way as the reigning champions' continued their return to form after a loss to University of Santo Tomas, scoring 18 points on 17 attacks and one block plus nine digs and seven receptions.
The win was the Lady Spikers' fourth in five games.
READ: Ramil de Jesus says La Salle treating 'young' UAAP field as equals
“Like Coach Ramil (de Jesus) said, we gotta play with respect. So, when we came to that third set, we really played it all out. We gave our all and you know, their team responded but then we responded with more power,” said Shevana Laput, who added nine markers.
Blocking proved to be the Lady Spikers' strong suit as Laput and two-time UAAP best middle blocker Thea Gagate (five blocks) had the lion’s share of the Taft towers’ game-high 10 blocks in three sets.
Although La Salle’s win was marred by 21 unforced errors, the defending champion made up for it by firing 45 attacks, nearly doubling UE’s 25 converted hits.
“Mas nag-focus lang po kami more on sa bawi kasi ‘yun nga, sa first two sets marami kaming errors masyado so mas nagfocus lang kami na i-lessen pa yung errors,” said Gagate.
UE super rookie Casiey Dongallo was also held to her lowest scoring output of the campaign with 15 points — more than what the team's six other scorers produced altogether (13 points) in the one hour and 26-minute contest.
The Lady Warriors suffered their first straight-sets loss of the season - and second in a row since the UAAP announced that their coach, Jerry Yee has been suspended for the rest of the season.
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