Lady Spikers rebound, clobber Falcons

MANILA, Philippines - La Salle vented its ire on a hapless Adamson side and came away with an easy 25-13, 25-13, 25-16 romp yesterday to bounce back on track in women’s play of the 78th UAAP volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Skipper Kim Fajardo provided the key plays for the Lady Spikers and finished with 18 excellent sets while chipping in nine hits, including six attack points, as the Lady Archers rebounded from their stinging four-set defeat to the National U Lady Bulldogs to improve to 3-1.

“She played big in this game,” said La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus of Fajardo.

With Fajardo orchestrating the plays, La Salle’s attacking play went into full throttle with Ara Galang leading the way with 10 hits and Mary Jay Baron, Mike Reyes and Carol Ann Cerveza chipping in nine, eight and eight hits, respectively.

Kim Kianna Dy also stepped up in the third set where she scored all her five hits.

The Lady Spikers also kept their errors to a minimum, ending up with 20 after committing 31 in their 16-25, 24-26, 25-14, 23-25 loss to the Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Falcons fell to 2-3.

In men’s action, University of the Philippines shocked NU, 25-19, 25-20, 31-29, to grab a share of the lead.

Wendel Miguel and Niccolo Consuelo took turns in offense and fired 20 and 12 hits, respectively, as the Maroons forced a five-way logjam at No. 1 with defending champion Ateneo, Far Eastern U, Adamson and NU.

In the only other men’s match, University of Santo Tomas clobbered University of the East, 25-21, 26-24, 25-18, to snap back-to-back losses.

The Warriors fell to their fourth straight defeat. 

Far Eastern U recovered from a third set meltdown and outlasted University of Santo Tomas in a tight fourth-set duel, scoring a 25-22, 25-18, 15-25, 25-23 victory in the other game.

Toni Rose Basas fired 19 hits while skipper Mary Remy Salas and Heather Guino-o combined for 21 points as the Lady Tams notched their second victory to even their card at 2-2.

Carmela Tunay turned in a 16-hit output while Cherry Rondina and team captain Ennajie Laure added 14 and 10 points, respectively, but the Tigresses failed to sustain their big third round charge and fell to their third straight loss.