DE La Salle University secured a spot in the UAAP Season 86 men's volleyball final four for a second straight year after booting out Adamson University, 26-24, 25-17, 25-23, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, April 17.
The Green Spikers also kept alive their twice-to-beat hopes as they raised their record to 9-3, tied with the National University (NU) Bulldogs at second place.
"Happy naman. This is what we have been preparing for after last season. Still, somehow, we still need to improve. We'll try our best to play better in our last two games," said La Salle head coach Jose Roque, who also criticized his team's complacency in the match.
The Green Spikers, who have an impressive preseason campaign, were ahead by five late in the third set, 22-17, but three straight errors from Noel Kampton, Jules de Jesus and JM Ronquillo allowed the Soaring Falcons to close the gap to 20-22.
Ahmed Tahiluddin tried to keep Adamson afloat with crucial hits followed by another error by de Jesus, 23-24, but de Jesus atoned for his miscue with a booming cross-court kill to give De La Salle the win in one hour and 32 minutes.
Ronquillo spearheaded the Green Spikers' charge with 16 points, including two blocks and four digs. Kampton chipped in 12 points and 13 excellent receptions while Vince Maglinao provided 11 points as well.
De La Salle will cap the elimination round against Ateneo de Manila University on April 21 and University of Santo Tomas (UST) on April 27.
Adamson dropped to 4-8 and missed the Final Four for the second consecutive year.
The last semis spot will be contested by UST (7-5) and Ateneo (6-6). Jude Aguilar paced the Soaring Falcons with nine points while Marc Paulino had seven points and 12 receptions. Tahiluddin also posted six points while only playing in the third frame. Adamson's final two games will be against NU on Saturday and Ateneo on April 24.
Meanwhile, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws bolstered their twice-to-beat semis bonus bid with a 25-17, 17-25, 28-26, 25-19 triumph over the University of the East Red Warriors in the other men's volleyball match of the day. Zhydryx Saavedra pumped in 16 points to pace the league-leading Tamaraws who rose to 11-1 and put themselves to within a win away from securing a top two finish, which merits a twice-to-beat incentive in the final four. Steve Aligayon dropped 19 points for the cellar-dwelling Warriors who fell to 1-11.
