Animo La Salle conquers Heart Strong

MANILA, Philippines -  Swept in the elims by Ateneo, La Salle returned the favor at the most important stage and scored a title repeat at the expense of its bitter rival.

The Lady Spikers showed their championship poise in another tough five-setter with the Lady Eagles, rallying to a thrilling 19-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-18,15-10 win to sweep the UAAP LXXIX women’s volleyball finals series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

It was the 10th crown overall for La Salle, one that multi-titled coach Ramil de Jesus described as one of the sweetest in 20 years at the helm.

“Siguro ito yung pinaka-roller coaster (It was a roller-coaster ride this season) so I’m happy,” said De Jesus who made a rare expression of happiness celebrating with his triumphant charges.

The Lady Spikers topped a top-seeded Ateneo side that had its number in the preliminaries.

“From the elims, nakita namin ang different advantages and disadvantages ng Ateneo at dun kami nag-focus sa preparation (We broke down the advantages and disadvantages of Ateneo in the elims games and focused on adjusting to them),” said De Jesus.

Kim Kianna Dy dropped 19 points with Tin Tiamzon (16), finals MVP Des Cheng (12), and Season MVP Joy Baron (10) helping out in scoring as La Salle gave graduating skipper Kim Fajardo a fitting valedictory.

“We wanted to win it for her and give her the exit that she deserves,” said Dy of Fajardo, who had 43 excellent sets on her final game.

Played out before a mammoth crowd of 20,860, Game Two essentially followed the same script as the opener, wherein DLSU trailed after three sets but turned things around.

With Cheng and Tiamzon connecting, La Salle seized a 21-16 cushion en route to leveling the game at two sets apiece and forcing the decider. Sustaining the charge in the windup, the Lady Spikers stormed to a 9-3 tear then turned to Cheng, Tiamzon and Baron for the coup de grace.

“Down 2-1, I told them I don’t want to play a Game 3 anymore. Just believe in yourselves and we can clinch it now,” said De Jesus.

Michelle Morente had 16 for Ateneo, which settled for runner-up to DLSU for the second straight. 

Meanwhile, high-flying Ateneo Blue Eagles put the punctuation mark to an undefeated drive to a three-peat in the UAAP LXXIX men’s volleyball tourney with a hard-earned 18-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-18, 15-13 win over National U.

Four-time MVP Marck Espejo punched in 27 points and capped his heroics with a big block on an attacking Fauzi Ismail in the decider that completed the Eagles’ perfect 16-0 season.

“From the very beginning, we didn’t expect to sweep all our games but the Lord is so good He gave us strength, he guided us and rescued us from every trap,” said AdMU coach Oliver Almadro. “I admire the players for their maturity and resilience; they just believed that they could do it.”

Just like in Game One, it was a grind-out type for a win for the Eagles, who again had to claw back from a 1-2 set deficit.

Trailing 4-7 in the fifth, Ateneo reversed the tide with a strong finishing kick sparked by Espejo, finals MVP Anthony Koyfman, and graduating Josh Villanueva and Rex Intal.

With the game tied at 13, Polvorosa sent it to Intal, who put AdMU at match point afterwhich Espejo foiled Ismail’s tying attempt and sealed the deal.

“Since the start of the season, we’re always slow-starting. Good thing, the players know how to manage and handle it,” said Almadro, who also drew 11 from Koyfman, 10 apiece from Villanueva and Intal and 62 excellent sets from Polvorosa in the clincher.