NO SWEAT

De La Salle University limited University of the East's super rookie Casiey Dongallo to a career-low in points en route to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-10 win in Season 86 University Athletic Association of thePhilippines women's volleyball tournament Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

This latest conquest, completed in 80 minutes, boosted the Lady Spikers' win-loss mark to 4-1 — good enough for solo second — while sending the Lady Warriors to their fourth setback and a 1-4 slate for seventh spot.

Although La Salle put on a show of force, deputy coach Noel Orcullo was not absolutely happy, saying the squad could have performed much better.

"Something was missing in the first two sets. And our opponents scored from our errors. Our coach reminded us that we had to give our foes respect because we played as if we didn't respect them," Orcullo said.

After the first two frames where UE was stuck until the last part before ultimately letting go, the Lady Spikers brought out everything they got in the third by building a 19-6 lead.

Reigning Most Valuable Player Angel Canino led La Salle with 17 points on 16-of-31 attacks while also tallying nine digs and seven excellent receptions.

Thea Gagate, the second-best blocker as of Sunday, made five blocks along with three attacks and an ace for nine points, while Shevana Laput also chipped in nine points and four digs in just two sets of action.

"We mainly focused limiting our errors because we had so many in the first two sets," said Gagate, noting that they had 21 errors while UE only made 14.

The Lady Spikers were dominant in every scoring department, winning in spikes (45-25), blocks (10-3), and service (6-0).

Dongallo, who played middle blocker in the first two sets, was limited to just 15 points, after reaching the 20-point barrier in all four starts.
No other Lady Warrior scored more than three points.

The two squads will return to action on Sunday, still at the same Pasay venue.

De La Salle will face the winless University of the Philippines in the main game at 4 p.m. while UE will play earlier at 2 p.m. against the streaking National University.

In men's play, defending champion champion National University sent Far Eastern University reeling to its first loss via a five-set escape, 25-22, 21-25, 25-14, 23-25, 18-16.

Jade Disquitado, a 19-year-old rookie, dropped a career-high 29 points on 24 spikes, four aces, and a block he laced with 23 excellent receptions, while Leo Aringo and Nico Almendras produced 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the Bulldogs.

With its fourth straight victory, NU forged a three-way logjam atop the standings its victims and De La Salle University at 4-1.

Bulldogs coach Dante Alinsunurin tipped his hat off to the Tamaraws, who were at matchpoint at 16-15only to fall short of staying undefeated.

Through Disquitado, the Bulldogs opened up an early 9-4 lead in the race-to-15 fifth frame but the Tamaraws banked on Dryx Saavedra, Jayjay Javelona, and Martin Bugaoan to catch up and tie the game.

After multiple see-saw actions, FEU gained match point after Lirick Mendoza denied Almendras at the net, 16-15, before the latter responded with a push shot that bounced off a Tamaraw player's hand before touching the antenna for another tie at 16.

In the ensuing play, Saavedra's down-the-line attempt went long followed by Choi Diao's quick attack to give NU the big win in two hours and 19 minutes.

Saavedra led FEU with 19 points, while Andrei Delicana and Javelona had 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Bugaoan also delivered 10 points for the Tamaraws, who gained 37 free points for the Bulldogs' errors.

FEU will seek to regain its winning ways on Saturday against Adamson University (2-2) while NU will aim to get its streak running against University of the East on Sunday. Both will be at the same Pasay venue.

Meanwhile, De La Salle University cruised to its third straight win but not after surviving a marathon third set against University of the East, 25-14, 25-20, 31-29.

The Green Spikers zoomed to a 4-1 record for momentary solo second while the Red Warriors remained winless in five matches.