Lady Archers stop Eagles, enter final

MANILA, Philippines - De La Salle outpointed Ateneo in the decider and hacked out an 18-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-19, 15-7 victory for an outright championship berth in UAAP Season 74 women’s volleyball at The Arena in San Juan last Sunday.

Setter Mika Esperanza dished out 71 sets as the Lady Archers completed their sweep of the 14 elims games to gain a thrice-to-beat advantage in the finals.    

“I told her (Esperanza) to just have confidence in herself and our hitters,” said Lady Archers coach Ramil de Jesus in Filipino.

It marked the second time that De La Salle had swept the elims. The Lady Archers did the feat first in 2004 and won the title outright.

Ateneo, with a second-running 11-3 card, dropped to the step-ladder semifinals.

University of Santo Tomas also gained a semis spot after it sent Adamson to a playoff with Far Eastern University for the fourth Final Four berth following a 25-22, 25-21, 25-8 victory last Saturday.

The UST-FEU playoff is set at 3 p.m. today, also at The Arena.

In men’s volleyball, FEU, behind JR Labrador’s 28 hits, clinched the No. 1 seeding in the semis after nipping Adamson (9-5) for a 12-2 slate.

Jay Depante had 19 points to lift reigning four-time champion UST (11-3) to a 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 triumph over NU (7-7) for the No. 2 seed in the semifinals.

Abigail Maraño had 20 hits and Cha Cruz contributed 19 points for the Lady Archers, who also drew 12 points, including two blocks, from Michelle Gumabao.

Fille Cainglet and Alyssa Valdez scattered 16 points apiece for Ateneo, while Dzi Gervacio contributed nine hits, including five service aces, and libero Denden Lazaro 29 digs for Ateneo, which has yet to win its first women’s volleyball crown since joining the league in 1978.