ILOILO City – De La Salle University Lady Spikers ruled the 24th University Games’ women’s volleyball. It defeated College of St. Benilde Lady Blazers, 25-17, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-12, at the University of San Agustin Gym.
Thea Gagate top-scored with 24 points, on 16 attacks, six blocks and two service aces on Saturday night.
Jolina dela Cruz added 19 markers while Ernestine Tiamzon and Leila Cruz had 12 and 11 markers, respectively.
Trailing 2-1 sets, the Lady Spikers broke away from a tight fourth set to build a 22-16 edge. Gagate, Dela Cruz and Marionne Alba then came up with consecutive points as DLSU stretched the match to a fifth and deciding set.
The Lady Spikers opened the fifth set with a 9-5 advantage but the Lady Blazers clawed its way back to within two points before the Lady Spikers widened the lead to 13-7 on conversions from Gagate and Dela Cruz.
The Lady Spikers reached the championship point at 14-9 on Gagate hit but allowed the Lady Blazers to come to within 12-14 before DLSU ended the match with a Cruz conversion.
Dethroned champions University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses, meanwhile, settled for a third place finish following a straight set victory over the National University Lady Bulldogs.
In the men’s volleyball, College of St. Benilde Blazers emerged as champions following a straight set victory over the De La Salle University Green Spikers./PN
