Lady Spikers extend mastery of Blue Eagles with sweep

MANILA, Philippines -- The La Salle Lady Spikers swept the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 25-12, 25-22, 25-19, to stretch their win streak over their perennial rivals to 13 games Saturday in the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The defending champions earlier absorbed a five-set loss to the UST Golden Tigresses.

And on Saturday, La Salle made sure an upset will not happen again.

The Lady Spikers fended off a scare in the second set, with Ateneo tying it up at 22-all.

La Salle then showed its championship pedigree, following up an error by Geezel Tsunashima with back-to-back points by Shevana Laput and Angel Canino to take the 2-0 lead.

In the third set, the Lady Spikers started off red-hot as they took a 16-8 lead.

Ateneo tried to claw back, cutting the lead to four, 18-22.

But La Salle once again found its bearings just in time, as back-to-back points by Thea Gagate finished the game off.

Ateneo is still winless against La Salle since 2017.

“After nung loss namin sa UST, hindi ko naman sila kinagalitan, basta kinausap ko lang sila na kailangan mas matuto sila sa pagkakamali namin,“ La Salle head coach Ramil de Jesus said.

“Kailangan kung ano yung mali natin, maayos natin sa game natin sa Ateneo which is nakita ko naman, naadjust naman yung mga mistakes namin at kahit papaano nagawa namin nang tama,” he added.

Gagate led La Salle with 15 points. Laput added 13 markers.

Lyann de Guzman spearheaded the Blue Eagles with 15 points, seven digs and four excellent receptions.

La Salle is now holding a 3-1 win-loss record, while the Katipunan-based squad dropped to 1-3.