UAAP volleyball: Maraño keeps women's champion La Salle spotless

Published December 17, 2011 9:51pm

Abigail Maraño showed Saturday why she's the leading attacker in the 74th UAAP women's volleyball tournament. The pride of Antipolo City scored 15 points to lead defending champion La Salle to a 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 win over University of the East at The Arena in San Juan City. Maraño capped her all-around performance with 15 points, 11 coming from spikes and was responsible for three of the Lady Archers' nine blocks as La Salle moved one win away of sweeping the first round of eliminations. "Abi (Maraño) stepped up and I am happy with that. My expectations from her are really that high," said Lady Archers coach Ramil de Jesus. Ara Galang had 12 points also for La Salle, which will miss the services of rookie Camille Cruz for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury she sustained last week. The Lady Archers also drew nine hits each from veterans Michelle Gumabao and Cha Cruz. The Taft-based spikers, after a two-week Christmas break, shoot for that first-round sweep against the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses in a rematch of the last season's title match. "I wish the team to stay healthy and injury-free," said de Jesus. Kite Rosale and Sarina Faith Bulan combined for 15 points for the Lady Warriors, who dropped their fifth straight game to stay ahead of winless University of the Philippines.

In the other women's match, Far Eastern University benched ace scorer Maica Morada but the Lady Tamaraws still posted a 25-22, 25-23, 25-17 victory against Adamson University to force a three-way tie for third place. "She (Morada) did not practice for one week. She's a big factor for the team, but we need to discipline her. We poured it all even without her," said Lady Tamaraws coach Nes Pamilar. Wenneth Eulalio paced FEU with 15 points and four blocks, while Rosemarie Vargas added 10 hits. Mayette Zapanta and Sheila Pineda had a combined 14 points for the Lady Falcons, who failed to register a single block in the match. The loss snapped Adamson’s mini three-game streak, while FEU ended its own two-game slide to join idle UST and their victims at No. 3 on a 3-2 card—behind solo second-placer Ateneo (3-1). In the men's division, Jayson Ramos and Jay Depante combined for 30 points as reigning four-time champion UST (5-1) clobbered UE (0-6), 25-11, 25-13, 25-21. Sam Paquiz, meanwhile, scattered 16 hits and Jeffrey Lasangan contributed 15 points as University of the Philippines (3-2) nipped Ateneo (1-4), 14-25, 28-26, 25-20, 25-21, in the other men's contest. — JVP, GMA News

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