DE LA SALLE survived a stubborn Ateneo side, scoring a hard-earned 18-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-19, 15-7 victory and snatching an outright championship berth in UAAP Season 74 women’s volleyball at the San Juan Arena on Sunday.
Not only did the Green Archers sweep all 14 games in the eliminations, but because of that amazing feat, they only need to win once against whoever they face in the finals to bag the crown.
And their opponents? They have to defeat the unbeaten finalists thrice to post a monumental upset.
Setter Mika Esperanza held fort against Lady Eagles playmaker Jem Ferrer by dishing out 71 sets in the match that seesawed throughout to the delight of the jam-packed Sunday crowd of green and blue.
“Sinabi ko sa kanya [Esperanza] na magtiwala lamang sa sarili niya at sa mga spikers. Maganda ang mga bigay niya sa mga attacker kaya tumaas ang kanyang kumpiyansa,” said Lady Archers coach Ramil de Jesus.
It marked the second time that De La Salle swept the eliminations. They did it first in 2004 and won the title outright.
Ateneo, with a second-running 11-3 won-loss card, thus dropped into the complicated stepladder semifinals.
University of Santo Tomas is also in the semifinals at third place after it sent Adamson University to a playoff with Far Eastern University (FEU) for the fourth Final Four berth following a 25-22, 25-21, 25-8 victory on Saturday.
The UST-FEU playoff was set at 3 p.m. on Monday also at the Arena.
In men’s volleyball, FEU, behind JR Labrador’s 28 hits, clinched the No. 1 seed in the semifinals after snatching its 12th win in 14 games at the expense of Adamson University, (9-5), 24-26, 28-30, 26-24, 25-20, 15-.
Jay Depante had 19 points to lift reigning four-time champion UST (11-3) to a 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 triumph over NU (7-7) for the No. 2 seed in the semifinals.
National University (2-12) ended its disappointing season by repeating over University of the Philiippines (0-14), 25-19, 19-25, 26-24, 25-15, in the other women’s game also on Sunday. UP became only the second team to go winless for a season after NU in the 2006-07 season.
Abigail Maraño had 20 hits and Cha Cruz contributed 19 points for the Lady Archers, who also drew 12 points, including two blocks, from Michelle Gumabao.
Fille Cainglet and Alyssa Valdez scattered 16 points apiece for Ateneo, while Dzi Gervacio contributed nine hits, including five service aces, and libero Denden Lazaro 29 digs for Ateneo, which has yet to win its first women’s volleyball crown since joining the league in 1978.
De Jesus is looking for his seventh crown as De La Salle coach. For Roger Gorayeb, it was his ninth-straight loss to the Green Archers since handling the Lady Eagles in 2008-2009.
In Photo: Charleen Abigaile Cruz and Mika Areen Reyes of La Salle play tough defense against Fille Cainglet and the Ateneo side. (Nonoy Lacza)
