La Salle one win away from rare sweep

MANILA, Philippines —  One win away from a ticket straight to the championship stage.

La Salle, as expected, clobbered winless University of the East, 25-20, 25-18, 25-15, to move on the verge of an elims sweep and an outright finals ticket in UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball yesterday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

Save for a close first set, the Lady Spikers dominated the Lady Warriors in only 78 minutes of play for their 13th straight win as a testament to their serious revenge tour after a bridesmaid finish last season to back-to-back champion National U.

A win by La Salle against NU on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena will lead to a rare stepladder format with the Lady Spikers facing the survivor in the best-of-three finals. La Salle beat NU in the first round, 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17.

A loss would set the stage for a traditional Final Four with La Salle being assured of the top seeding and a twice-to-beat edge.

But first things first for La Salle, which took care of business against the lowly UE as a warm-up.

Later, Shaina Nitura had 26 points as Adamson (8-5) stayed in a three-way semis race with Santo Tomas (7-5) and FEU (7-5) after eliminating University of the Philippines (5-8), 25-19, 25-18, 25-16.