By NIKOLE JAVIER
Defending champion De La Salle survived a gutsy University of the East in an epic five-set win, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-12, to forge a tie at No. 1 in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament on Tuesday night, April 9, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The shorthanded Lady Spikers were shaky from start but hung tough in the endgame for their seventh consecutive win at 9-1, sharing similar records with top seed University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses.
Sans reigning UAAP MVP Angel Canino, who missed her second La Salle game but seemed to be recovering well now without a sling on her injured right arm, La Salle was dragged to its third five-setter of the season.
Veteran middler blocker Thea Gagate and sophomore Shevan Laput showed the way for La Salle with 22 and 21 points, respectively, off 17 kills made each.
Three other Lady Spikers stepped up with a double digit scoring with Alleiah Malaluan finishing with 12 markers, while Amie Provido and Maicah Larroza had 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the collective effort.
Meanwhile, UE’s top scorer last season Khy Cepada finished with a season-high 23 points while rookie star Casiey Dongallo had 20 markers of her own in the losing cause.
At 2-8, the Lady Warriors are now a loss way from elimination.
In the fifth and final set, La Salle zoomed to a 7-2 advantage but UE pulled itself within just one 9-8.
However, the Lady Spikers came to their senses and capitalized on their being the No. 1 blocking team to put the match to rest.
