La Salle ends UST mastery behind leader Canino
La Salle and University of Santo Tomas took the floor at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday night looking for a reset in the second round of UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball showcase.
But after a thrilling five-setter—the 11th of the tournament—only the Lady Spikers were able to right their ship.
Angel Canino, who gathered the squad in a players-only meeting two nights earlier, had 27 points built on 24 attacks, a pair of blocks and an ace to will the Lady Spikers past the Lady Tigresses, 15-25, 25-17, 24-26, 25-20, 16-14, finally arresting a stretch of futility that dates back to 2023.
“We kept telling the girls to want this, for this is a battle of wills,” La Salle deputy Noel Orcullo said in Filipino during the post-match presser. “Just keep wanting it until the fifth set, and then we got a good result.”
Canino cut that picture of a resolute leader before a thick crowd at the Big Dome as she played through pain following an inadvertent knee to the head from teammate Shevana Laput during the fourth set.
The former rookie-Most Valuable Player, who also recorded 13 digs and 13 receptions, was later brought to a nearby hospital.
“This has been a long time coming, this is something we’ve been wanting ever since last year,” said Laput, who tossed in 16 points and four digs that backstopped Lyka de Leon’s 23 receptions and nine digs.
“This is a big cool off for us. There’s nothing to say except that I’m proud of us for getting through this. I’m happy with the result. But of course, there’s always room for improvement,” she went on.
UST looked like it was going to continue its mastery of La Salle behind Reg Jurado and Cassi Carballo, but they fell prey to late miscues that eventually sent them to their fourth loss in nine meetings.
“Imagine the buildup, the hugot. We played with that in our hearts. We wanted to win more, and we knew that we deserved to win if we put in the effort,” said Laput.
Now on a three-game tear with a 6-3 win-loss mark, La Salle hopes to annex a fourth triumph at the expense of traditional rival Ateneo which at 4-5 looks to crack the qualifying threshold for the knockout phase.
“We gotta rest but then also get ready right away. No matter what happens, we’re just going to play our game,” Laput said of the clash set this Wednesday at the same venue.
