ADVANTAGE, La Salle.
The Lady Spikers armed themselves with the last twice-to-beat advantage at University of Santo Tomas’ expense, 23-25, 25-20, 30-28, and 29-27, in the UAAP Season 87 playoff for No. 2 on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
With that, La Salle will have the luxury of two shots at a finals berth come Saturday’s Final Four opener — still against the Golden Tigresses.
The Taft towers amassed a game-high 20 blocks - a handful of which coming in an extended fourth set to deny sudden-death.
Amie Provido had the lion's share of a herculean defensive effort with five blocks to complete her 10-point outing.
Angel Canino capped a monumental win with 24 points, 12 receptions, and 10 digs alongside a strong 22-piece from Shevana Laput.
Fall down once, get up thrice
The green-and-white bucked a slow start in the playoff, as Angge Poyos wasted no time heating up for UST with a 10-point outburst, setting the pace early in España’s favor.
It would then be the Lady Spikers' captain's turn to lead the green-and-white from the front, as she spearheaded an 8-2 Lady Spikers run to draw level.
The arrows were much sharper come the third frame, as Canino flexed her MVP-caliber form to tow La Salle closer to the semis bonus even if it took them five set points to do so.
In all, tt was a show of revenge six years in the making for the Lady Spikers, as it finally made amends from a crushing playoff loss and Final Four exit at the hands of the black-and-gold back in Season 81.
Those two defeats to UST ended their unrivaled 10-year streak of reaching the finals, where they won the title seven times.
Poyos' own triple-double of 24 points, 13 digs and 12 receptions couldn't save the Golden Tigresses from the jaws of defeat, even with two set points in the fourth frame.
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