![Tea Gagate La Salle wins over Ateneo UAAP Volleyball](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2024/03/UAAP-86-WVB-Thea-Gagate-4.jpg)
La Salle's Tea Gagate vs. Ateneo in the UAAP Season 86 Women's Volleyball Tournament. –UAAP Photo
Reflecting on their loss to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tigres, the La Salle Lady Spikers wished they could have used their height and length to their advantage.
„We didn't perform to the best of our ability. For some reason our middle was limited in that game,“ La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus said.
If the Lady Spikers have their way, that won't happen again.
The defending champions will look to impose a size advantage over the rest of the field for the remainder of the UAAP Season 86 Women's Volleyball Tournament.
They began play on Saturday night, defeating rival Ateneo 25-12, 25-22, 25-19 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, where the 6-foot-2 middle blocker showed off.
Thea Gagate scored 15 points and Shebana Laput added 13 points in the win, improving the Lady Spikers' record to 3-1 (win-loss).
Angel Canino scored 10 points and Julia Coronel pitched an impressive set of 16 as La Salle began to clean up the mess of its previous match, when the team lost in five sets to the smaller but faster Tigres.
„The timing wasn't right that time, we weren't organized. We were able to correct those mistakes and we should be able to maintain that in subsequent games,“ De Jesus said.
With La Salle's victory, it tied for second place with National University. The Lady Bulldogs defeated the University of the Philippines 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 in a free fall victory for their third win in four games.
Ryan de Guzman led the Blue Eagles with 15 points, including 13 attacks, and had one block and an ace while dropping the other game for the third time in four games after an easy win over the University of the Philippines.
13 consecutive losses
The Blue Eagles have lost 13 straight to the Lady Spikers since La Salle defeated them in Game 1 of the 2017 Season 79 Championship Series, but De Jesus isn't counting. .
„I don't think too much about the rivalry (with Ateneo). Every game is important for us, no matter who we play,“ De Jesus said. „It was a coincidence that we enjoyed a long tradition of winning against Ateneo.“ Gagate, Laputo and Canino took turns establishing La Salle's advantage over its rebuilding rival. Canino scored with a powerful crosscourt kill, and Rapto closed out the first set with an ace.
„Since that loss (to UST), we've made some really big adjustments last week and I'm glad that applied to this game,“ said Canino, last season's rookie MVP.
The Blue Eagles fought back in the second set, and de Guzman helped the team tie the game at 21 points.
But Laputo hit another ace and Canino scored with a kill, giving the Lady Spikers a 2-0 lead and a victory over their rivals.
La Salle dominated in the third set, with a kill and a block from Gagate clinching the victory. INQ