The DLSU Lady Spikers wreaked havoc on a hapless FEU squad in the first two sets, stumbled a bit in the third, then finished it off in the fourth set, 25-7, 25-12, 22-25, 25-11, to finish the first round with a three-game winning run, tied with UST at second position with a 5-2 record.
The aggressive frontline of the Lady Spikers obliterated FEU from the get-go establishing a huge 15-5 lead early in the first set, never looked back and finished the set 25-7 capitalizing on FEU’s failure to dig. The rotation of Jolina dela Cruz, Fifi Sharma, Leiah Malaluan, Thea Gagate and Leila Cruz relentlessly attacked the weak back defense of the Lady Tamaraws resulting in a lopsided set.
An indication of how one-sided that set was is that four of the Lady Tamaraws’ seven first set points came from La Salle errors.
The second set was a virtual replay of the first set, La Salle dominating while FEU gasping for life. The Lady Spikers opened a quick 16-6 lead going into the second technical timeout and then continued to smash their Morayta counterparts’ defense en route to a 25-12 win.
With two sets in the bag, the Lady Spikers seemed to lose focus in the third, allowing FEU into the match, and the Lady Tams started to score. In the middle of the set, the Lady Tamaraws started to gain traction and while the Lady Spikers started to pull their foot off the pedal. FEU was able to open the set 5-8, scoring five attack points, something that was not present in the first two sets.
With their backs to the wall and not wanting to lose 0-3, FEU gutted it out and eventually won the set 22-25.
And as the fourth set rolled along, playtime was over for the Lady Spikers. La Salle started to puncture the FEU defense again with relentless kills and timely drops and went on an early 6-1 run before zooming into the second technical time-out with a 16-8 lead. FEU was limited to only four attack points at this juncture, and it was all but game over.
The volleybelles from Taft Avenue closed the game our 25-11.
Leiah Malaluan once more bannered the green and white with 16 points while Gagate finished with 14 while Sharma added 13. The Lady Spikers also finished a season-high of 59 attack points while starting setter Mars Alba’s 14 excellent sets was higher than FEU’s team total of 9.
The volleyball action will take a break and will resume action next Thursday, May 26, 2022, with the Lady Spikers facing undefeated NU at 6:30pm.
ANIMO LA SALLE!!!
