By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers survived an early onslaught from the Adamson University Lady Falcons and came back in the last three sets, 17-25, 25-19, 25-11, 25-22, in the ongoing UAAP Season 86 Women’s Volleyball tournament on April 17, 2024, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
With the hard-earned victory, the Lady Spikers just hiked its record to 10 wins and two losses, forcing a three-way tie with the NU Lady Bulldogs and the UST Golden Tigresses for the top spot in the tournament.
Before re-capturing their stride and momentum in the game, DLSU had to dig deep and get out of the mud after playing an error-plagued opening set.
With a series of unforced errors and poor decision-making in their attacks and receives, the Lady Spikers suffered an early 0-1 deficit and entered the second frame with a sense of urgency.
After a loud timeout DLSU head coach Ramil de Jesus deployed to her wards, the Lady Spikers quickly regained their true form and struck to their game plan of tightening their middle coverage.
Answering the call for DLSU were Thea Gagate and Shevana Laput who fortified the Lady Archers’ middle blocking, swatting away four out of seven Adamson early attack attempts to flip the switch and kick off their comeback.
As DLSU started to ramp up their intensity on both ends of the floor, they slowly picked up the pace that they wanted and stole Adamson’s momentum to get back into the driver’s seat.
It was in the third set that DLSU broke the game wide-open after establishing a commanding double-digit lead midway through the frame.
With DLSU up front with a sizable advantage at the start of the fourth, Adamson unfortunately regressed and failed to maintain their pace in the opening set.
Laput led the way for the Lady Spikers with a game-high 24-point production derived from 22 successful attacks and two blocks.
Meanwhile, her other half of the Taft Twin Towers, Gagate, contributed 12 markers built from 10 successful attacks and three rejections.
