Dy hurt on DLSU’s romp

Sweep of UST gives Lady Spikers semis bonus

MANILA, Philippines -  Defending champion De La Salle University recovered from the trauma of seeing ace hitter Kim Kianna Dy down on the floor injured en route to a methodical three-set win over University of Santo Tomas, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21, to gain a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals of the UAAP season 79 women’s volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Spikers were up, 6-4, in the third when Dy hurt her left ankle going for a block and limped out of the game for good.

Dy produced 12 points on nine spikes and two denials prior to her exit, but DLSU hardly missed her absence in sealing their 10th win against two losses to join archrival Ateneo on top of the field.

The win also handed the Lady Eagles a twice-to-beat edge in the next round.

“I was confident that we could pull through (despite the absence of Dy in the third) because everyone in the team practices,” said Lady Spikers head coach Ramil de Jesus.

“Hopefully, we will be more aggressive with our floor defense. We also need to work on our service reception and minimize our service errors.”

The Tigresses saved the match point on an attack by Cherry Rondina, 21-24, but Rondina committed a miscue from the service line for UST to fall to a three-way logjam at third with University of the Philippines and National University at 7-5.

This makes the race for the last two spots in the Final Four even tougher, with Far Eastern University also keeping its hopes alive with a 25-14, 25-18, 27-25 win over also-ran University of the East earlier.

The Lady Tamaraws checked a two-game slide for an even 6-6 slate at sixth, one game behind UST, NU and UP.

All four teams left in contention face a must-win situation in their respective last two assignments in the eliminations.

UST faces UP (April 2) and NU (April 8) while FEU tangles with the Lady Bulldogs (April 1) and the Lady Maroons (April 5).

“We still have to go through the eye of a needle. We still have a tough road ahead. But we will do our best and focus on our game against NU on Saturday first,” said FEU head coach Shaq delos Santos.

Desiree Cheng punched in 13 points, while Ernestine Tiamzon hammered 11 markers and Kim Fajardo tossed in all of DLSU’s 20 excellent sets on top of six points to lead DLSU.

Cherry Rondina logged 13 points and had 15 digs. EJ Laure turned in 11 points and 13 digs, while Mary Pacres had 10 markers for the Tigresses who sputtered at the homestretch of each set.

Earlier, FEU survived a tight third set duel against UE after coasting through the opening set and stopping a Lady Warriors surge in the second.

The Lady Tamaraws fought through 18 deadlocks in the third, the last at 25, before a block by Remy Palma and an attack miscue by the Lady Warriors helped them preserve the win.

Bernadeth Pons and Jeanette Villareal turned in 11 points apiece for FEU. Pons also collected 15 digs.

Shaya Adorador was the lone Lady Warrior in double figures with 11 points.