La Salle stays in the moment despite prospects of sweep, outright finals berth

MANILA, Philippines – La Salle is on the verge of sweeping the elimination round of the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament and earning an outright spot in the finals.

But as exciting as those prospects may be, the Lady Spikers choose to stay in the moment.

And that grounded approach showed on Wednesday, April 15, as La Salle scored a businesslike 25-20, 25-18, 25-15 victory over the winless UE Lady Warriors at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion to raise their unbeaten record to 13-0. 

“That’s what the coaches are instilling in us — one game at a time. We don’t worry about this streak that we have, that it’s 13-0,” said Shevana Laput, who led the way in the win alongside Angel Canino as they both tallied 12 points.

“We worry about how we perform and if we perform what we have done in training, being disciplined, and staying true to the system that the coaches have taught us.” 

As the Lady Spikers seek a perfect elimination-round run that would trigger a stepladder playoffs, standing in their way are two-time defending champions NU Lady Bulldogs. The two squads will meet on Sunday, April 19, at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

A win over the Lady Bulldogs would make La Salle the first team to sweep the elimination round since NU also went 14-0 and won the championship in Season 84 in 2022. 

It would also mark the Lady Spikers’ first elimination-round sweep since Season 76 in 2014 — the team coming close in Season 85 in 2023 when they posted a 13-1 record before going on to capture their most recent title. 

While La Salle beat NU in four sets in the first round, their rematch poses a different challenge to the Lady Spikers, with the burden of expectations of preserving their perfect record in play. 

“The pressure to win is always there. But coach (Ramil de Jesus) keeps reminding us that scores are just numbers,” said La Salle assistant coach Gian de Jesus.  

“We need to focus on what’s right in front of us, which is NU, and just take it one game at a time. Hopefully, we’ll be able to play a good game against NU.”

While La Salle inched closer to a rare sweep, the Lady Warriors are a loss away from a second consecutive winless campaign after finishing with a 0-14 record in Season 87. – Rappler.com