Lady Spikers clip Eagles in Game 1

Dy powers DLSU’s nail-biting conquest

MANILA, Philippines -  La Salle broke free from the stranglehold of elims tormentor Ateneo when so much more was at stake.

Showing stronger hearts in a finals opener fought tooth-and-nail, the Lady Spikers served the Lady Eagles a vengeful 21-25, 29-27, 25-22, 25-20 beating to move on the verge of back-to-back UAAP women’s volleyball crowns yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“May hugot factor since hindi kami nanalo nung eliminations sa kanila (We have a deep motivation considering we haven’t beaten them in the eliminations) and we want to defend the crown,” said Kim Dy, whose team will gof for the jugular in Saturday’s Game Two,

The fierce rivals clawed at each other all game, matching spikes for spikes, blocks for blocks, digs for digs, sets for sets and even errors for errors.

DLSU proved steadier in the end, wiping out a 17-22 deficit to steal the second set and make it an even game then fighting back from a 15-18 down to close it out in the fourth.

Skipper Kim Fajardo provided the anchor to DLSU’s gutsy second-set fightback, dropping three of her seven service aces to help turn the tables around. In addition to dishing 37 excellent sets, Fajardo finished with 10 points overall and 10 excellent digs to support Dy and top scorer Tin Tiamzon (15) on offense.

“Kahit down kami, hindi ako nawalan ng tiwala sa team (Even if we’re down, I never lost faith in the team),” said Fajardo.

Libero Dawn Macandili manned the ramparts expertly, coming through with 28 of DLSU’s 62 excellent digs and 15 of its 32 excellent receives.

“Based sa previous games, naghahabol kami sa depensa. Very aggressive ang Ateneo, kailangan naming pantayan (As learned from the previous games, we have to match Ateneo’s aggressiveness on defense),” said coach Ramil de Jesus.

DLSU had 13 more attacks than AdMU overall, too – 51 against 38.

Jho Maraguinot and Bea de Leon led the way for the Lady Eagles with 16 and 14 hits, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Ateneo Blue Eagles shook off rust before grinding out a 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13 verdict over the National U Bulldogs as they inched closer to a perfect championship run in the men’s tournament.

Coming off a three-week layoff brought about by their 14-game elims sweep and outright finals qualification, the Eagles struggled in the early going but fought their way back in and finished strong to score the win.

Mac Espejo punched a well-placed hit that put Ateneo at match point to highlight his 29-point performance, then Rex Intal, hardly a factor all game, came through with a clean block on NU’s Fauzi Ismail in the next play to seal the deal for spotless AdMU.

“Kinalawang kami (Rust slowed us down somehow) but good thing, the players showed resiliency and heart. They simply didn’t want to lose today,” said AdMU coach Oliver Almadro, whose charges will go for a clean sweep of the season and their third consecutive crown on Saturday.

AdMU ran into a spate of errors in the third set, committing nine to allow NU to take a 2-1 set lead. But the Eagles got their rhythm back and handily won the fourth to force the decider.

Espejo took charge in the fifth while Joshua Villanueva and Anthony Koyfman came up with big blocks as AdMU raced to a 13-8 tear. The Bulldogs, behind Bryan Bagunas and James Natividad, racked up five unanswered points to level the score at 13.

“NU is a great team. They really have the edge in power but I told the team you have to play wise, your mindset will make us champion,” said Almadro.

Koyfman complemented Espejo with 18 while Villanueva and Intal added 14 and 11, respectively.

Ismail and Bagunas paced NU with 22.