Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
Reigning MVP Angel Canino powered De La Salle past University of the East, 25-21, 25-18, 25-11, in the first round of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament on Wednesday, March 6, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The defending champions were dominant in all fronts and limited league-leading scorer rookie Casiey Dongallo of the Lady Warriors.
With the win, the Lady Spikers tallied their fourth straight-set victory in five games – only losing in their five-set affair against top seed University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses last Feb. 25.
Canino led all scorers with 18 points off 17 attacks and one block, while rising star Dongallo, who averaged 26 points in her first four games, was held to only 15 points which was her lowest scoring output since making her UAAP debut.
Dongallo, top prospect for this season’s rookie-MVP awards, recently bested Canino’s UAAP record to become the highest scoring rookie with her 30-point performance in UE’s five-set defeat against Far Eastern University.
The Lady Warriors, still without their temporarily suspended head coach Jerry Yee for the second straight game, were evidently struggling to find their head in the game.
While the first two sets were relatively tightly-contested, the third set was massively different if not better for La Salle as it jumped straight to a 22-6 advantage followed by Amie Provido’s three consecutive service aces.
The third set was certainly a far cry and not representative of UE’s previous showing that saw them come up huge in extended affairs in their past four games.
Aside from Dongallo, though, no other Lady Warrior breached the double-digit mark as they dropped their fourth straight game for a 1-4 slate in the standings.
Meanwhile, Lady Spikers Alleiah Malaluan and Shevana Laput had 10 and nine markers, respectively.
La Salle dominated UE in all departments, with 45 attacks accounting for its total points compared to the latter’s 25.
Although the Lady Spikers committed seven more errors than the Lady Warriors with 21, the Taft-based squad made up for it with 10 blocks and six aces. — Nikole Javier
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
