By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers overwhelmed the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles after taking them down in three straight sets, 25-12, 25-12, 25-18, in the ongoing UAAP Season 86 Women’s Volleyball Tournament on April 21, 2024, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
With the lopsided victory, the Lady Archers just completed a season sweep on the Blue Eagles after scoring a 2-0 series win from the first round of the preliminaries.
It was an exact outcome for DLSU after overpowering Ateneo in just three sets built from their unstoppable offensive sets backed by their tremendous middle blocking prowess.
Despite the absence of superstar outside hitter Angel Canino who is still sidelined due to an undisclosed arm injury, the Lady Archers were still able to put on a show and were led by the 1-2 punch of Thea Gagate and Shevana Laput.
The dubbed “Taft Towers” connived for 31 points and nine blocks, with Gagate tallying a game-high 16-point performance derived from 10 successful attacks to go alongside six blocks.
Laput, the other half of the “Taft Towers”, backstopped Gagate with 15 markers built from 12 successful attacks and three rejections.
It was all DLSU from the get-go as their early offensive snowball sucked the life out of Ateneo that were struggling with their cross-court hits.
Despite in-game adjustments deployed by Ateneo with hopes of generating more offense from the backline, the duo of Gagate and Laput were locked in and covered their middle area to perfection.
After clinching a momentum-boosting first-set win, the Lady Spikers just steamrolled their way in the last two sets to complete the one-sided victory.
Julia Coronel, DLSU’s team captain setter, also shone in the bright lights and orchestrated their offense to perfection after chipping in 17 excellent sets and four markers.
The Lady Spikers will look to wrap up their final game of the regular season with a huge win over the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses on April 27, 2024, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
