Lady Spikers halt Tigresses

MANILA, Philippines — Reigning titlist La Salle regrouped after a lackluster first set, exacting a measure of revenge against first round tormentor University of Santo Tomas, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24, to snare the solo second spot in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball yesterday.

The Lady Spikers capitalized on the Tigresses’ error-ridden game to avenge their straight set-loss to their opponent in their first meeting last March 6 and pick up their seventh win in 10 outings.

UST coughed up  26 errors in the second and third sets then helped DLSU close it out on two errors by Eya Laure at the finish.

“We had the greater desire to win today. We wanted to better our standing. We played as a team and this is the result,” said Lady Spikers skipper Des Cheng.

In the first game, National University recovered from a second set hiccup to dump Adamson, 28-26, 30-32, 25-21, 25-22 and improve to sixth.

The Lady Bulldogs fired away seven of their 15 aces in the last two sets to climb to 3-7 and keep their Final Four hopes alive while showing the Lady Falcons the exit with a 1-9 record.

Ivy Lacsina, converted to middle blocker from open, smacked an off-the-block hit to push the Lady Bulldogs to match point, 24-22, then Princess Robles swung a hit that overpowered the outstretched arms of the Lady Falcons’ blockers to seal it after an untimely service fault by Mary Orillaneda allowed AdU to save.