La Salle completes pool sweep in SSL preseason volleyball

MANILA, Philippines – La Salle completed a sweep of Pool C after bringing down pesky Jose Rizal University, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16, in the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship on Sunday, October 13, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Fielding mostly their young guns, the playoff-bound Lady Spikers had a tough time putting away the unfazed Lady Bombers but showed composure in the closing stretch to grab their third win in as many starts.

Jyne Soreno waxed hot from the service line with 6 aces to go with 4 hits for 10 points to lead La Salle in capping a dominating first round. 

“We had to help each other inside, especially since Iwas with younger players,” Soreno said in Filipino after accounting for more than half of the Lady Spikers’ 10 service winners.

Senior high winger Sandy Demain and middle blocker Katrina del Castillo also made their presence felt for La Salle. Demain fired 11 points, all coming off attacks, while Del Castillo added 10 markers.

Amor Guinto finished with 10 points including the match-clinching wing attack for the Lady Spikers, who will face the No. 1 seed from Pool A and second-ranked teams from Pool B and D in another round-robin play for one of the two twice-to-beat quarterfinal advantages at stake.

La Salle struggled to close out the second set after erecting a commanding 20-9 advantage. JRU pulled off a scary 10-3 rally behind Shanine Pretta and Nicole Deala to cut its deficit to 23-19 before the Lady Spikers stopped the bleeding for a 2-0 match lead.

It was all La Salle in the third set with Guinto and Del Castillo taking over with a combined 11 points.

The also-ran Lady Bombers dropped to 0-2. Deala and Cherry Dayame had 7 and 6 points, respectively, for JRU.

Meanwhile, Far Eastern University survived Adamson rookie Shaina Nitura’s 35-point explosion in a come-from-behind victory, 16-25, 25-22, 31-33, 25-20, 15-13, for a clean sweep of Pool D late Saturday, October 12.

Jean Asis had 13 points, Chenie Tagaod and Gerzel Petallo scored 12 each, while Clarisse Loresco added 11 for the Lady Tamaraws’ third win in as many games. 

The Lady Falcons, who got 33 of their 65 kills from Nitura, slipped to a 1-1 slate.

On the other hand, San Beda University defeated Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22, for its first win in Pool A.

Reyann Canete and Venice Pagayanan showed the way with 8 points each as the Lady Red Spikers improved to a 1-2 card.

The Lady Generals slid to a 0-3 record despite the 12-point effort of Elizza Alimen and 11 markers by Alessandra Razonable.

The preseason volleyball tournament is backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, GCash, Chery Tiggo, F2 Logistics, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, R and B Milk Tea and Summit Water.

SSL games — also supported by Smart Sports, PLDT Fibr, Mikasa, Asics, Rebel Sports, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), and SM Tickets as technical partners —are aired live and on-demand via Puso Pilipinas, SMART Livestream, Solar Sports Channel 70 on Sky Cable and Channel 59 on Cable Link. – Rappler.com