De La Salle Lady Spikers gird for top two assault
WITH competition in UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament growing even tighter as it hits homestretch, the defending champions De La Salle Lady Spikers are wasting no time tying up loose ends in their game in preparation for the tough grind ahead.
Currently at second spot at 7- 2, behind league- leaders Ateneo Lady Eagles (7-1), La Salle knows that hardly anything is a sure thing in the ongoing University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season and that it has to sharpen up if it is to successfully defend its title.
“Our goal is to secure one and two [in the standings] so we have to start now building momentum and fine-tuning our game so when the playoffs come we are ready,” said Lady Spikers coach Ramil De Jesus after their four-sets victory on Sunday over the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, one of the teams hot on their trail.
It was the second straight victory for the Taft-based spikers after dropping their first encounter with archrival Ateneo at the end of the opening round and allowed them to stay within striking distance of the leaders.
Against NU (5-4), La Salle took the first two sets in convincing fashion but encountered turbulence in the third set, no thanks to a number of unforced errors.
The Lady Spikers, however, would regain their bearing and dominate anew in the fourth set to bring home the 25- 21, 25-11, 15-25 and 25-12 win.
But while they welcomed the win, Mr. De Jesus said the game was another example why they are still a work in progress.
“We have to address the number of our unforced errors as these can easily change the complexion of games. We still have moves on the court that we can still improve on. Our tendency to relax when we are ahead as well is not helping us,” the multititled coach said.
“We are still looking for consistency,” he added.
Next stop for La Salle is a match against a free- falling University of the Philippines ( UP) Lady Maroons ( 4- 4) on Sunday, March 19.
It something that Mr. De Jesus said they are looking forward to after they were dealt their first defeat by the Lady Maroons in the first round.
“[Despite on a slide] UP [still] has some advantages that we have work on so come Sunday we are more ready for them. They have some moves we are still trying to address to,” Mr. De Jesus said.
LA SALLE TOPS MOST SKILLS CATEGORIES
Meanwhile, the Lady Spikers remain the top team in most skills categories three- fourths into UAAP Season 79 of the women’s volleyball tournament.
As per numbers released by the league, La Salle is the leader in blocks, serves, sets and receives.
The Lady Spikers are leading with 2.5 blocks per set, ahead of University of the East’s (UE) 2.11 and Far Eastern University’s (FEU) 1.76 average per set.
They also are ahead in service with 81 aces to date and 2.7 average per set. Second is UP with 75 aces and 2.68 average. Thirdrunning is Ateneo with a 2.5 average and 70 service aces.
La Salle tops the league in setting with a 13.9 average per set followed by Ateneo ( 13.75) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) (13.07).
In terms of receiving, the Lady Spikers lead with an efficiency rate of 41.86%. UP is second with 33.45% and UE is third with 31.75%.
Leading the league in spikes is Ateneo with a 39.47% success rate, followed by UST (34.05%) and La Salle (31.97%).
FEU, meanwhile, is the top digging team with a 15.97 average per set. Next is UST (15.86) and Adamson University (14.89).