La Salle sweeps Ateneo, books ticket to Final Four

It took only an hour and 22 minutes for the De La Salle (DLSU) Lady Spikers to complete their elimination round sweep of rivals Ateneo de Manila (ADMU) Lady Eagles.

The DLSU won over ADMU in straight sets, 25-17, 25-13, 25-23, on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. With the win, the Lady Spikers are now assured of a seat in the Final Four bus.

The Katipunan-based squad almost extended the game after making a run in Set 3 to narrow the gap, 24-22. However, La Salle proved to everyone their mastery of rivals after an Aduke Ogunsanya attack gave the win for their squad, 25-23.

La Salle now holds 9-3 record while Ateneo has 10 wins and 2 losses. Watch the sequence that gave the win to DLSU | via @jk_carandang pic.twitter.com/SzM3y4xxPr

— GMA News Sports (@gmanews_sports) April 13, 2019

The ladies from Taft Avenue dominated Set 2, even leading as much as 11 points in the frame, 18-7, eventually ending it at 25-13. They also had a commanding run in the first period, widening the gap to 22-13 at one point. They took the first set, 25-17.

"Hindi ko in-expect na ganito kabilis matatapos 'yung game. Naglaro nang maayos 'yung mga bata today kaya, siguro mas gusto nila manalo," DLSU head coach Ramil de Jesus said after their quick win against Ateneo in front of 15,854 people in the arena.

De Jesus stressed the importance of their win for them to have separation against other teams in the standings. "Kailangan namin itong panalo na 'to para at least lumayo kami dun sa mga nakadikit sa'min. Marami kaming nag-aagawan sa second place. Sabi ko sa mga bata, hindi na dapat tayo matalo para mas makalayo pa sa mga kadikit na team like UST, FEU," the DLSU head coach said.

The green-and-white squad now holds a 9-3 record, while FEU and UST are tied with an 8-4 record.

Photo: Justin Kenneth Carandang

DLSU's Jolina dela Cruz led the Lady Spikers with 14 points. "Kanina, siguro na-feel namin 'yung pride talaga kasi hindi namin ine-expect na matatapos nang tatlong sets lang. Habang naglalaro kami, siguro nandun talaga 'yung pride namin," Dela Cruz said.

De Jesus also praised the opposite spiker and said that Dela Cruz's performance was already a given. "Sa practice naman, ganun si Jolina. Ine-expect namin na kahit kalahati nun, kaya ibigay. Sobra pa sa 50% 'yung binigay niya para bumuhat sa team. Alam naman namin na kaya niya gawin 'yun," he said.

For Ateneo, Ponggay Gaston led the Lady Eagles with seven points. However, notable in the stats was Ateneo not making even a single point out of 27 block attempts.

Stats: DLSU’s Jolina dela Cruz led the Lady Spikers with 14 points. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/RGZBndoqyG

— JK Carandang (@jk_carandang) April 13, 2019

Was this part of DLSU's game plan? "Madaming variation so na kay Cobb na 'yung diskarte nun, sa setter na talaga. HIndi ko naman puwedeng gawing robot 'yung setter para ganito ang gawin, ganyan. Hinahayaan ko siya, pero may mga times na nagsa-suggest ako sa kanya ng play. Kaya na-neutralize siguro kasama na rin sa game plan 'yun, kung sinong pipigiln sa kalaban." De Jesus said.

Defending champs DLSU will be back in action after the Holy Week break and will face the UE Lady Warriors on April 24. The Lady Eagles, on the other hand, will play Adamson on the same game day.

Earlier today, the UE Lady Warriors listed their third win this season, beating the Adamson Lady Falcons in straight sets, 25-14, 25-19, 25-22. — MDM, GMA News