De La Salle University secured a seat in the next round after completing a sweep of Pool D with a 25-14, 25-9, 25-18, drubbing of Letran College in the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Preseason Championship Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Spikers closed the group stage with a perfect 3-0 win-loss record and their victory gave Far Eastern University a free ticket into the second phase where the top two teams in each pool will play another round of round-robin matches to determine their positions in the knockout quarterfinals.
FEU finished Pool D in the second spot with a 2-1 card.
Julia Coronel scored 12 points while rookie Angel Canino blasted nine of her 10 markers in DLSU’s dominating second set.
Chamberlaine Cunada and Natalie Estreller scored seven each for the Lady Knights, who dropped to 0-2 card tied with reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association champion College of Saint Benilde.
Meanwhile, National University announced its arrival with an emphatic 25-14, 25-6, 25-12, crushing of Jose Rizal University to begin its campaign in Pool C.
Team captain Cess Robles hammered 11 points in just a set of action while Minierva Maaya added 10 markers for the Lady Bulldogs.
Rookie Vangie Alinsug had seven attacks and an ace for an impressive debut for NU.
The Lady Bulldogs started out flat in the opening set before quickly shifting into full gear, displaying the same tenacity and aggressiveness that keyed their unbeaten championship run in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
NU blasted a finishing 10-1 barrage in the opening set to shake off the Lady Bombers that had breathed down the Lady Bulldogs’ necks, 15-13.
From there the towering Lady Bulldogs bullied their way into an emphatic sweep.
“We were a bit rusty coming off a one-week vacation and we just got back to training a week ago. We are still far from our competitive form but it is a good thing we’re now back to our usual grind,” NU coach Karl Dimaculangan said.
Sydney Niegos and May Ruiz scored six each for JRU, which slid to 0-2.
