REFUSE TO LOSE.
From the brink of disaster after trailing 1-2 and treading in dangerous waters in the fourth set, the comeback Lady Spikers found the will and the way to outlast Adamson in five sets 25-17, 25-27, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9, to chalk up win number 11 last Wednesday at the MOA Arena.
After the Lady Falcons took sets 2 and 3 and took a slim 10-9 lead in the 4th, La Salle turned to the reliable Jolina dela Cruz who detonated a 5-0 run with an off-block smash and a block kill while Thea Gagate was doing signature Gagate middle swats to pull away, 15-9, abd that run sent the Adamson bench into a panic time-out.
With this mid-set lead, La Salle was able to weather through late rallies with Angel Canino and Dela Cruz pushing La Salle to set point at 24-21. Although Adamson made a mini 2-0 run, they wilted under the pressure with an unthinkable set error and the Lady Spikers extended the match with a 25-23 fourth-set win.
It took every rabbit and pigeon out of the legendary bag of tricks Coach Ramil to pull off the set including the Taft Towers awakening with La Salle dominating the block kills charts with five during the set.
Adamson took an early 0-2 lead, and it looked like an upset was in the books. But as the final set rolled along, it was virtually a count. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. With the lethal combination of Shevena Laput, Canino, and Dela Cruz dominating at the net, La Salle held tight control of the final set at 8-1 and the green gallery could smell a sweet comeback win.
Then, Gagate took over and together with Fifi Sharma made a strong push to match point before another brief Adamson uprising. With the score 14-9, the senior Dela Cruz put the Falcons to sleep by smashing through their floor defense to notch the set and the match at 15-9.
Canino, Gagate and Dela Cruz all had monster games with 28, 22 and 21 points respectively while collectively dominating the blocks stats 12-5. La Salle is now 11-1 and unlocked the twice-to-beat advantage for the Final Four.
The DLSU Lady Spikers will match up against crosstown Ateneo on Sunday.
ANIMO LA SALLE!
ANIMO LADY SPIKERS!!!
