UAAP: La Salle nears elims sweep with win over UE; Green Spikers bow out of Final 4 race

De La Salle University defeated University of the East, 25-20, 25-18, 25-15, on Wednesday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion to move closer to an elimination-round sweep in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament.

The win improved the Lady Spikers to 13-0, putting them just one victory away from completing a sweep and securing an outright berth in the finals.

La Salle assistant coach Gian de Jesus, however, emphasized the need to stay focused.

“Siguro, hindi naman mawawala ‘yung pressure pagdating sa amin. Siyempre, nandoon ‘yung pressure na kailangang manalo, pero lagi namang pinapaalala ni coach na score at number lang ’yan. Kailangan mag-focus pa rin sa kung ano ‘yung nasa harapan mo, which is ‘yung NU ngayon, at one game at a time lang. Sana, hopefully, maganda pa rin ‘yung mapakita namin na game against NU,” said Gian, son of head coach Ramil de Jesus.

Shevana Laput tallied 12 points and four digs, while Angel Canino added 12 points and 10 digs as La Salle wrapped up the match in one hour and 18 minutes.

For UE, Khy Cepada posted 13 points and 10 receptions, while Van Bangayan chipped in 10 points as the Lady Warriors remained winless.

Earlier, the UE men’s team pulled off an upset over La Salle, 25-21, 28-26, 26-24, to eliminate the Green Spikers from Final Four contention.

Raquim Aceron led the Red Warriors with 19 points and 22 receptions, while Roy Piojo added 14 points and six receptions as UE improved to 3-10.

Issa Ousseini scored 16 points for La Salle, while Yoyong Mendoza and Eugene Gloria chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Green Spikers dropped to 5-8.

With La Salle’s loss, the Final Four cast is complete, with Far Eastern University, National University, University of Santo Tomas, and Ateneo de Manila University advancing to the semifinals.

—JKC, GMA News