La Salle, UST set up SSL Last 4 duel

MANILA, Philippines — And they meet again.

UAAP rivals La Salle and Santo Tomas drubbed their respective foes to arrange a semifinal battle in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) National Invitationals yesterday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Shevana Laput and Thea Gagate spearheaded the barrage anew as reigning UAAP champion La Salle scored another sweep at the expense of Mindanao qualifier Jose Maria College Foundation, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19, in only 67 minutes of play.

Behind a balanced onslaught, the Golden Tigresses followed suit by holding off NAASCU champion Enderun Colleges, 25-13, 25-16, 21-25, 25-14.

La Salle and UST, which also battled in the UAAP Season 85 Final Four, will duke it out for a finals seat tomorrow. It’s actually UST that dealt La Salle its lone loss in a near-perfect run in the UAAP.

“Ibang labanan na sa semis so marami pa rin kaming kailangang ayusin,” said deputy mentor Noel Orcullo as La Salle continued to hold fort without UAAP Rookie-MVP Angel Canino in its SSL roster.

It’s the third straight sweep for La Salle after wiping out Pool A of the 12-team SSL presented by Eurotel as the official hotel and Victory Liner as office transport provider, and in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

On the other hand, Angeline Poyos (18) showed the way with Regina Jurado (10) and Athena Abbu (9) providing coverage for UST. Xyza Gula, Jonna Perdido and Maribeth Hilongo added eight points apiece for the Tigresses who suffered just a first set loss after sweeping Pool B’s La Salle-Dasma and CESAFI champion University of San Jose-Recoletos.

Top seeds Adamson (Pool C) and NCAA champion College of St. Benilde (Pool D) were to face CESAFI champion University of San Jose-Recoletos and University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, respectively, in the other semifinal pairings.