Lady Spikers stake unbeaten slate against Nitura and Falcons
The second round of the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament eliminations starts Saturday, with La Salle hoping to pick things up the way it ended the first round, but not in the same scary way.
The Lady Spikers battle the Adamson Soaring Falcons at 3 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum, and they hope to get the job done in a much-convincing way than in a 19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 13-25, 15-5 last March 11, where Shaina Nitura and Co. pushed La Salle to its veritable limits.
And coach Ramil de Jesus believes that a good start would be key on Saturday.
“They (Falcons) came off a good win, and we had a bad start,” De Jesus had said in Filipino after that win that gave the Lady Spikers a first round sweep. “I guess the big factor for us was they (Falcons) got tired from the third set, and we built a big lead in the fifth (set).”
Adamson posted its finest first-round showing since Season 87 (2023) after finishing at 4-3 and be well inside Final Four contention. In 2023, the San Marcelino-based program placed third in its last appearance in the semifinals and coach JP Yude is aware that his team needs to double its efforts as the race to the playoffs intensifies.
“We need to work for everything,” Yude had said in Filipino. “Every game in the second round will be crucial for us, because there won’t be another round to make up for mistakes here.
“We worked on our lapses and we are definitely ready for the second round.”
Meanwhile, after staying in Final Four range with victories in its last two matches, University of Santo Tomas hopes to leave its first-round struggles behind under returning coach Shaq delos Santos.
Also with a 4-3 record, the Golden Tigresses battle lowly Ateneo in the 1 p.m. contest.
“I think every game is a must-win for us from here,” assistant Santo Tomas coach Yani Fernandez said in Filipino when asked of the second round battle plan for the Tigresses who have so far underperformed.
“We don’t want to think of our opponents at this time because I feel that our biggest opponent is ourselves.”
Santo Tomas is playing at full force, with libero Detdet Pepito returning to play her final year and Jonna Perdido back from a knee injury that kept her out for all of last season.
