De La Salle survived Far Eastern University's stiff challenge, 30-28, 25-12, 28-26, in the second round of the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday, March 29, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Lady Spikers survived the Lady Tamaraws in a marathon opening set before similarly turning them back in the third to keep a perfect 9-0 card in the standings.

With the ninth straight win, La Salle is now assured of at least a playoff berth.

Angel Canino dropped a team-high 16 points all from attacks, while Jolina dela Cruz and Thea Gagate chipped in 13 and 11, respectively.

La Salle trailed FEU for most of the first set as the Lady Tamaraws raced to an early 6-1 lead before the Lady Spikers brought it to a deadlock of 10-all.

The Lady Spikers couldn’t close the gap on the Lady Tamaraws and found themselves down by four, 23-19, in the same set.

FEU then arrived at the match point after a Jean Asis crosscourt hit while keeping itself cushioned at 24-21, but the La Salle side responded with a 4-0 run to trim the deficit and put itself on top by one.

Both teams broke out of a deadlock four more times before Canino punctuated the opener with back-to-back crosscourt kills.

In the second set, the Lady Spikers continued cashing in on Canino’s impressive form who went on back-to-back attacks from the back row for a slim 10-9 advantage, which turned into an 11-1 run.

Seizing their biggest advantage of the match at 20-10, La Salle refused to take the beating a notch lower, which forced FEU to commit two consecutive errors that ended the set.

The third set was no different from the first, where the Lady Spikers encountered another resistance from the Lady Tamaraws who extended the final set anew.
However, La Salle remained unfazed and held on for the straight-set win until the final whistle.

"First set, we started flat, so medyo parang [hindi] makagalaw. Ni-remind lang namin sila na nawawala tayo sa sistema, iba iyong ginagalaw niyo sa prinactice natin," said assistant coach Noel Orcullo.

Chenie Tagaod and Alyzza Devosora paced the Lady Tamaraws with 13 and 10, respectively in the losing effort, as they slid 4-5 in the standings.