Perennial UAAP forces La Salle and Adamson rolled past their separate counterparts to complete group sweep and march on to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) National Invitationals Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
The reigning UAAP champion La Salle needed only 70 minutes to dispatch CESAFI runner-up University of Southern Philippines Foundation, 25-14, 25-15, 25-19, while UAAP bronze medalist Adamson also blanked NCAA runner-up Lyceum, 25-17, 25-18, 25-22, in 71 minutes.
Alleiah Malaluan hammered 13 points built on 12 hits as La Salle swept Pool A of the historic SSL nationwide tilt presented by Eurotel as the official hotel and Victory Liner as office transport provider, and in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
The Lady Spikers, who also drubbed University of Perpetual Help System Dalta in the opener, 25-11, 25-17, 25-12, drew ample support from Shevana Laput and Katrina Del Castillo with 10 points apiece.
But La Salle, without UAAP Rookie-MVP Angel Canino and ace libero Justine Jazareno, is far from being satisfied entering the knockout playoffs.
“Marami pa kaming kulang. Lalo ‘yung connection ng setters at spikers. Marami pang kailangang ayusin. ‘Yung mga unnecessary errors, kailangan masolusyonan,” said assistant coach Noel Orcullo as La Salle also deals with the graduation of key cogs Jolina Dela Cruz, Mars Alba and Fifi Sharma.
Later, Lucille Almonte fired 10 points on six hits and four aces in the Lady Falcons’ second straight win under new coach JP Yude. Sharya Nicole Ancheta and Red Bascon added nine and seven points, respectively.
“Good thing na nalagpasan namin yung elims pero kailangan pa naming paghandaan kung sino makakalaban sa QF lalo at paangat ng paangat ang games,” said Yude, who succeeded former Adamson mentor Jerry Yee.
The sweep of La Salle (2-0) in Pool A and Adamson (2-0) in Pool C also paved the way for quarterfinal entries of Perpetual (1-1) and Jose Maria College Foundation (1-1).
Perpetual finished second in Pool A after beating USPF while Mindanao bet JMFC clinched the last ticket from Pool C owing to an upset of Lyceum for the biggest revelation so far in the tourney also backed by Mikasa, Team Rebel Sports, Summit Bottled Water, Genius Sports, Potato Corner, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken and Sauce Bar, and R&B Tea.
USPF (0-2) and Lyceum (0-2) crashed out of contention while four more seats in the quarterfinals are up for grabs in the remaining games of press time.
All SSL matches are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand with Plus Network Digital Media Services, CNN Philippines, Solar Sports Entertainment and TAP Sports serving as media partners.
The historic National Invitationals, with support from Boy Tuikinhoy of Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc., Alex Adeva of Northern Mindanao Volleyball Association of Coaches and Referees and San Juan Red Cross chapter, are also showing live in all Shakey’s branches nationwide.