MANILA, Philippines – Perfect 10.

This is how the De La Salle Lady Archers have been faring so far in the 72nd UAAP volleyball tournament after sweeping past the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws, 25-16, 25-23, 25-14, to streak to their 10th straight win in the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

So dominating were the Lady Archers that they needed only 1 hour and 8 minutes to dispose the Lady Tamaraws while keeping their immaculate record unblemished.

Stephanie Mercado and Jacqueline Alarca scored 13 points apiece to pace the dominant Lady Archers. Mercado scored all of her points on spikes while Alarca had 9 and 2 service aces and 1 block in a pair of sterling performances for the pacesetting Lady Archers.

Cherry May Vivas was the only Lady Tamaraw in double figures with 15 points in a losing effort.

The Lady Tamaraws fell outside the Top 4 after absorbing their 5th setback in 10 matches.

In the other ladies match, the Ateneo Lady Eagles also posted a straight set win over winless National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22, to remain in the Final Four hunt.

Fille Cainglet scored all but 1 of her 13 points on kills while Dzi Gervacio backstopped her with 10 kills to lead the Lady Eagles to their 6th win against 4 losses, tying Adamson behind University of Santo Tomas (8-2) and La Salle.

It was a big recovery win for Ateneo after losing a heartbreaker to the Lady Archers, 15-25, 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, last week.

Ateneo shocks FEU

In the men’s division, Ateneo pulled a shocker, defeating 2nd running FEU, 26-24, 17-25, 25-21, 27-25, to create a triple tie at the middle of the pack.

The Blue Eagles leaned on Andre Pareja’s 20 markers to register their biggest win of the season.

The Tamaraws failed to sustain their momentum after tying the game in the 2nd set. Not even the combined 35 points of Nestor Molate and Joshua Alcarde could prevent their 2nd loss in the tournament.

FEU slid to 8-2 behind frontrunner UST (9-1).

Ateneo, meanwhile caught up with La Salle and University of the Philippines (UP), who won over Adamson in the other match, at 5-5.

UP earned a grueling 28-26, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11 victory in the 2nd game after 3 of its players made double figures.

Giancarlo Ramos, Luis Aguilan and Michael Arda scored 16, 14 and 13 points, respectively, to lead the Maroons.

The match that lasted 1 hour and 41 minutes saw a see-saw battle between the 2 determined teams. But UP proved steadier down the stretch. – by Alder T. Almo

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