UNIVERSITY of the East (UE) survived the absence of top spiker Jelai Gajero and a two-set deficit to beat University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 25-22, 15-12, for its fourth straight victory in women’s play of the V-League Collegiate Challenge at the Paco Arena in Manila Wednesday.
Casiey Dongallo took over after Gajero left the match early in the second frame after sustaining a left knee injury, exploding for 37 points, all on attacks.
Riza Nogales had six blocks for the Lady Warriors continued to trek strong to the semifinals.
“Looking at the positives, the players who needed to step up stepped up,” UE head coach Jerry Yee said. “Hopefully, Gajero’s injury isn’t that bad.”
UE, which earlier toppled Enderun, Mapua and San Sebastian-Recoletos, showed grace under pressure in the battle of nerves in the last two sets to remain unscathed.
The Lady Warriors face the Lyceum of the Philippines University Lady Pirates on Sunday.
The victory put to naught National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 98 MVP Mary Rose Dapol’s breakout performance of 23 points, including 21 spikes, as the Lady Altas, who also drew a 16-point game from Shaila Omipon, slipped to 2-2.
Far Eastern University (FEU) later matched UE’s 4-0 card in women’s play as it downed Lyceum, 25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19.
Playmaker Tin Ubaldo dished out 16 excellent sets that the Lady Tamaraws translated into 54 attack points with Keisha Bedonia accounting for 11 on her way to a 13-point outing.
Janeth Tulang and Johna Dolorito scored 14 points apiece for the Lady Pirates, who joined Lady Stags in the cellar at 0-4.
FEU bounced back from a tough five-set defeat in its previous match by beating University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16, 25-16, to get back into contention in the men’s division.
The Tamaraws toughened up on defense to put beat the Altas, finishing with 13 blocks, including three from Lirick Mendoza and two from Dryx Saavedra.
“What we did against Ateneo we did the second time around,” said FEU head coach Ed Orcullo, whose wards rallied from 2-0 set down to force a decider against the Blue Eagles, only to lose momentum on shaky service reception to yield, 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 13-15 decision last Sunday.
“We fixed our blocks and defense,” Orcullo said.
FEU tied its victim at 2-2 won-loss behind Ateneo’s unblemished 3-0 card with University of Santo Tomas (UST), National University and De La Salle all toting 2-1 cards in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
Saavedra took charge for FEU in the fourth that saw the Tamaraws pull away from a tight 12-10 count with a decisive 13-6 with Mendoza ending the match with a kill block.
Saavedra added four digs in his 20-point explosion.
Klint Mateo, who did double duty in setting and spiking, paced the Altas with 13 points and three excellent sets while Mike Medalla and Jeff Marapoc added 10 points each for the Las Piñas-based squad.
UST, meanwhile, kept rolling after an opening game loss by beating Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, in the other men’s contest to wrest solo second with a 3-1 card.
Josh Ybañez unleashed a 19-point performance to power the Golden Spikers to their third straight victory after yielding to De La Salle last August 18.
The University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85 MVP delivered 13 attacks, four blocks and two aces.
Despite the victory, UST head coach Odjie Mamon challenged his wards to do better.
“We’re still working on the new system, we have to work harder,” he said.
The Golden Spikers, who earlier downed Bulldogs and Altas, leaned on their net defense most of the way, finishing with 10 kill blocks with Paul Colinares anchoring their gutsy stand at the middle for his four blocks and five attack points.
Jan Abor paced EAC with 12 points coming off the bench and Ervin Osabel added 10 points for the Generals, who fell to 0-4.