By Kristel Satumbaga
La Salle got off to a fine start after beating archrival Ateneo in the UAAP women’s volleyball championship on Sunday before a roaring crowd of more than 17,000 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
If it was a finals game, it could have been a huge one.
But as the saying goes, a win is a win so La Salle’s 25-14, 25-17, 16-25, 25-19 victory was still special since it was at the expense of the Lady Eagles.
While it was special, the Lady Spikers can only smile knowing it will give them little as far as their 4-peat bid is concerned.
Veteran Desiree Cheng knew it fully well.
“We told ourselves, win or lose, this game (against Ateneo), will not define how we are as a team,” Cheng said. “We just have to work harder in the coming games because that’s the goal.”
The win enabled La Salle to forge a four-way tie for the lead with University of Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University and University of the Philippine into the winning pool.
The Tigresses survived a scare from the Adamson Lady Falcons, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 15-6, also on Sunday.
“Hindi naman madali yung kalaban. Naging pabor lang sa amin yung situation. (It was a tough match. I think the situation just favored us),” said La Salle coach Ramil De Jesus.
