La Salle Lady Spikers.–UAAP PHOTO
La Salle came into the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament as the heavy favorite after a stellar championship campaign in the previous edition of the event.
But the Lady Spikers encountered a heartbreaking setback after blowing a two-set lead in a loss to University of Santo Tomas (UST).
And for the Lady Spikers, enduring that defeat will prove valuable in the long run.
“That loss was our biggest hugot this season,” Angel Canino said on Wednesday after La Salle notched a second straight win following that loss to the Golden Tigresses—the team’s only defeat so far this season.
“No one wants to lose [but] we needed that game,” Thea Gagate, one of the veteran Lady Spikers, added. “It was a wake up call for us that we need to focus more on our movements and lessen our errors every game.”
Coming from a convincing victory over arch rival Ateneo, La Salle crafted another win of the same fashion against University of the East (UE), 25-21, 25-18, 25-10, on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
It was the fourth win in five games for the defending champions, who are just half a game behind the undefeated Tigresses, who are idling with a 4-0 (win-loss) record.
“Yes, slowly, we are regaining that top form as a team because we still really need to jell as a team,” Canino said. “We also need to have more confidence in ourselves to give everything and focus on the team.”
And the team hopes to sustain that confidence and focus—and more—for the rest of the season.
“We need to maximize our strengths … because I feel like we have more to show,” Gagate said after annihilating UE in the third frame.
Star limited
La Salle indeed flexed its muscles against UE, firing 45 attacks, 20 more than the Lady Warriors, while Gagate led the Lady Spikers’ net defense with five blocks, half of her squads’ total. She also had the same production against the Blue Eagles.
La Salle’s defense was largely responsible for limiting UE star rookie Casiey Dongallo, who was held to a relatively pedestrian 15-point effort—her lowest this season—after entering the match with a 26-point average.
“Knowing La Salle, they are just a great team,” Dongallo said. “… They have the height, everything. Height and skills. “It’s so hard to score against them because when you jump, you are met by three middle blockers who are like towers.”
“We’re just happy we were able to stay close [for two sets] even if they really left us in the third set.”
“We dominated the last set but we were really just playing our own game, sticking to our system, and trying to lessen our errors,” La Salle’s 6-foot-2 middle blocker Shevana Laput said.
And the Lady Spikers are giving opponents even more reason to fear them.
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“But it’s also like that (the win against UE) shouldn’t be our top performance. It’s so early in the season. Our top performance should really be when it’s in the finals so you know, that’s not the standard,” Laput said.