Lady Archers sweep Eagles, retain volley crown

MANILA, Philippines - La Salle showed up with its fierce form and swept arch-rival Ateneo, 25-16, 25-22, 25-13, to complete its back-to-back title romp in the UAAP women’s volleyball before a jampacked crowd at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Charlene Abigaile Cruz came away with 12 hits, including 11 kills, to cap her five-year tour-of-duty with the Taft-based school with a fourth championship with an MVP title to boot.

“I know I’m the oldest but I don’t care I just want to savor everything and take advantage of my time with La Salle,” said the 23-year-old Cruz, a Psychology degree holder, who’s taking up Masters in Special Education.

While La Salle extended its reign, Far Eastern U stopped reigning four-peat champion University of Santo Tomas as it completed a two-game sweep of their men’s championship series with a heart-pounding 25-27, 25-15, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13 win.

Cruz, set to join her mother Aileen in New Jersey in the US after her studies, also bagged the Finals MVP trophy which coach Ramil de Jesus said she truly deserves.

“I told her (Cruz) this is her last year so I keep on encouraging her to end her season with La Salle with a championship so she really deserves all the awards she’s getting,” said de Jesus, who has now steered La Salle to seven crowns since taking up the coaching chores 14 years ago.

La Salle thus ended the season with an impressive 16-1 (win-loss) record for the second straight season.

The Lady Archers actually swept their first 14 games but the Lady Eagles stunned them with a pulsating 23-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-17 triumph last week.

“That (loss) was a wake-up call,” said Cruz. “But we’re focused to go back so to show unity and prove that we’re determined to win the championship, we all cut our hair, we call it the ‘Charlene Gonzales look.’”

After allowing Ateneo to fire at will in Game One, La Salle toughened up on its net defense, coming up with 10 blocks, including four by Michelle Gumabao and three by Maria Mikaela Esperanza.

That included the duo’s title-clinching block that triggered a frenzied celebration on the court to the delight of their hordes of green-clad fans.

After shaking hands with the Lady Eagles, the Lady Archers formed a circle, faced the crowd and struck an archer-like pose before receiving their medals and trophies.

Earlier, JR Labrador fired at will and netted 22 hits while Arvin Avila uncorked 19 points to lead the Tams in sealing a league best 25 championships.