The Lady Spikers seat as Thea Gagate commandeered the team with her 12 points from nine attacks and three blocks followed by Leiah Malaluan’s 12 points.

UE was able to keep pace with La Salle at first but that stopped at 10-11 as Gagate was unstoppable with her blocks and attacks combined with Malaluan’s powerful attacks to end at 25-12.

La Salle was unbreakable even in the second set as Gagate shattered UE with her first quick attacks followed by another hit to cap the first two points. The gap ballooned from 10-6 to 16-6 which allowed the Warriors to retaliate in the second set, 25-19.

But the third set was a close call as UE had their steps under the nose of DLSU after closing the gap of 7-4 to all 7 after a rally of block after block and coverage after coverage.

The crucial 20 points were on the side of the Taft-based squad while leaving UE at 17. But the Red Warriors retaliated for a 21-22 score yet lost after a collided reception, a blocked on Rhea Manalo, and finishing touch of Gagate, 25-22.

After such a feat, La Salle secured a seat to the Final Four and will battle against Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) on Tuesday leaving behind UE with a 0-12 winless card and extending its losing game scheme to 16 since 2019.