By NIKOLE JAVIER
La Salle is seeking to put things back in order when it faces bitter rival Ateneo in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday, March 2, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Lady Spikers and the Blue Eagles square off at 4 p.m. in the double-header of the women’s action.
Reigning rookie-MVP Angel Canino, who tied her UAAP best scoring output of 28 points in La Salle’s five-set defeat against University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses, is expected to carry the fight for the Lady Spikers anew when they try to bounce back from that defeat.
La Salle, which tallied back-to-back convincing straight-set victories to open the season, couldn’t complete a reverse sweep of UST and collapsed in the endgame where they blew away a significal lead.
Interestingly, it was also the Golden Tigresses who handed the Lady Spikers their lone defeat last season during their second round encounter.
Should La Salle continue piling its personal win over Ateneo, it will stay behind the undefeated UST in the standings.
Ateneo (1-2), on the other hand, is coming off inspired this time from its first win in three games against University of the Philippines.
The Blue Eagles played their second straight five-set match only this time they had the last laugh to show for it as they also snapped a six-game losing skid dating from last season.
With new-found winning confidence, Ateneo is now looking to taste its first victory against La Salle in seven years during the peak of their intense rivalry.
In the earlier play, National University (2-1) is going for its third win when it tackles the winless (0-3) University of the Philippines at 2 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs regained some sense of dominance after scoring their first convincing win in straight sets at the expense of the Adamson Lady Falcons earlier this week.
