The De La Salle Lady Spikers in action vs. National University in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball Finals. Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News.MANILA — De La Salle University has now lost three games against National University in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament.
READ: 'Bilog ang bola': De Jesus not losing hope despite La Salle's sorry Game 1 loss to NU
The Lady Spikers absorbed a sweep against the defending champions to open their campaign in Round 1, what followed was a four-set loss in the second round. The latest loss came in Game 1 of the Finals on Sunday.
In each of those games, La Salle main gunners Angel Canino and Shevana Laput both had decent outings, with the duo averaging 14.7 and 17.7 points, respectively.
Canino even had her best scoring game against NU this year in Game 1, with the former ROTY-MVP putting up 22 points (10 came in the third set), while Laput was within her average, finishing with 16 markers on 11 attacks.
However, while Lady Spikers mentor Ramil de Jesus is confident that both players capable of pouring in much more, Angel and Shevana can only do so much in terms of scoring.
“Ang problema ko lang talaga is ma-maximize yung mga spikers namin,” the veteran head coach said before departing the Araneta Coliseum following their latest loss to NU. “Although pag umabot naman yung set, nakakapatay naman.”
These playmaking woes have been among de Jesus’ biggest concerns since Season 87 started.
“Actually, lagi namang mataas yung expectations sa La Salle. May Shevana Laput, may Angel Canino, so mataas ang expectations,” he said last February 17 after their first game of the year.
READ: RDJ wants La Salle setters to iron out playmaking woes after tough loss to NU
“Pero, siyempre, yung tibay naman ng team wala doon sa spiker eh, nasa setters. Sila yung driver ng team, so medyo shaky yung team pag shaky din sila,” he added in the same interview.
In their first meeting with NU, the Lady Spikers only managed to tally 10 excellent sets to the Lady Bulldogs’ 20. Jules Tolentino had five of those, Mikole Reyes finished with four, while Ela Raagas had one.
They went on to show improvement in their Round 2 clash by cutting the gap to three, 23-20, but the same issue again reflected on Sunday as La Salle only had 19 to their counterparts’ 25 — with Lams Lamina tallying 22 excellent sets on her own.
De Jesus has acknowledged this factor anew, and he is hoping for his setters to figure things out if they want to not only extend their season, but also give themselves a shot of bringing home the championship back to Taft Avenue by forcing Game 3.
“Kitang kita naman yung difference nung setting,” noted de Jesus, almost three months after he first voiced out the same concern. “Kahit naman sa last interviews ko, yun yung sinasabi ko.”
”So hopefully, sa next game, mas maayos na yung setting namin,” he added.
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