Game Wednesday
(Mall of Asia Arena)
2 p.m. – NU vs UST (Men Finals)

LA SALLE is almost there.

The Lady Spikers moved to within a win of annexing its first title in five years after repulsing hard-fighting National University, 18-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13, Sunday night before 7,677 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

What compounded the Lady Bulldogs’s offensive was the sidelining of Sheena Toring who fell on the hard floor and hurt her left knee as she accordingly landed on teammate Thea Gagate’s foot.

The defending champions were trailing, 12-13, at this juncture of the pressure-packed match.

It was also at this point that super rookie Angel Canino slammed down a kill — her 21st point of the match — that shoved the Lady Spikers up at 14-12.

Reigning MVP Mhicaela Belen was a class of her own as she saved a match point but Minerva Maaya, who subbed Toring, flubbed her attack in the middle.

It failed to cross the net, allowing La Salle to escape with the series opening victory of their best-of-three title duel.

La Salle goes for its 12th championship title and the first since 2018 in Game 2 slated at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

UST secures 1st finals appearance

In the men’s division, University of Santo Tomas secured its first Finals appearance in 11 years as it blanked Far Eastern University, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21, to forge a best-of-three championship clash against three-peat seeking NU.

The Golden Spikers and the Bulldogs meet for the first time in the league’s biggest stage in the Final Four in the opener at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Gagate had four blocks for a 17-point effort while Shevana Laput chipped in seven points for the Lady Spikers. Jolina dela Cruz had six points, 13 receptions and eight digs while setter Mars Alba and Alleiah Malaluan also scored six points apiece.

Alyssa Solomon had 28 points, including two blocks, while Belen contributed 22 points, 14 receptions and 12 digs for NU.

Gboy de Vega was solid for UST with 16 points on 14-of-29 attacks while Josh Ybañez chipped in 15 points, including the match winner, and 13 receptions.

“We’re more than happy kasi after 11 long years nakabalik ng Finals yung UST. Big thank you sa lahat ng alumni kasi isa sila sa naging factor kung bakit kami naging united this game. They shared knowledge, yung mga experiences nila before nung nag champion sila dati at isinapuso lang namin yun, naniwala kami sa lahat ng turo nila,” said De Vega.

Rainier Flor tallied three of the Golden Spikers’ six blocks for a 11-point outing while Emman Dedoroy also logged 11 points.

Assistant coach Ben Mape, who continued to fill in for head mentor Odjie Mamon who was currently with the national team for the 32nd Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, was satisfied that UST was able to follow its gameplan in the second step-ladder to the letter.

“Naging advantage sa amin yung long preparation kasi napag-aralan namin yung positioning nila and at the same time napag-aralan din namin yung weaknesses namin, naging strength namin yun,” said Mape.

Mark Calado led the Tamaraws with 12 points while Jelord Talisayan had two blocks to finish with six points.