Lady Archers tough defense defang Tigresses in Game 1

La Salle leaned on its superb defense as it trounced defending champion University of Santo Tomas, 25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 27-25, yesterday to gain the headstart in their best-of-three series for the 2005 Shakey’s V-League first conference crown at the Makati Coliseum.

Maureen Penetrante and Concepcion Legaspi got the job done upfront as they combined for 14 blocks while gutsy Libero Shermaine Penano and comely Manilla Santos backed them up with 19 excellent digs, enough to propel the Lady Archers to the rousing victory before a big Monday crowd.

"Our plan is to really play defense and we did just that in this important win," said the soft-spoken La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus, also the mentor of the national women’s team seeing action in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games slated Nov. 27-Dec. 5 in Bacolod City.

La Salle, which swept UST in the 2004 second conference, goes for the clincher in Thursday’s Game 2, which shifts back to the Rizal Coliseum. A decider, if necessary, is set on Saturday, also at Rizal Coliseum.

Earlier, San Sebastian survived a tough first set challenge by Ateneo and went on to post a 27-25, 25-19, 25-21 win and likewise move within a victory from clinching third place honors in the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Adjudged as the best blocker in last year’s second conference, Penetrante lived up to that billing as she swatted eight shots to finish with a game-high 18 points. Legaspi, back in harness after spraining an ankle in the eliminations, added 11 hits.

While Penetrante and Legaspi were rock-solid with their net defense, the duo of Michelle Carolino and Desiree Hernandez supplied the firepower throughout the 1:43-minute contest.

A mainstay in the RP squad and MVP of the last conference, the 25-year-old Carolino and Hernandez, the 2003 UAAP MVP, came through with 15 hits apiece, including 27 kills that tore the Tigresses’ defense.

But UST, which beat La Salle in last year’s inaugural staging of this event backed by Accel, Mikasa, Dunkin’ Donuts, IBC-13, the Philippine Sports Commission and Jemah Television, didn’t go down without putting up a fight. — Joey Villar