Reyes shines, Canino returns from scary neck injury as La Salle romps Ateneo anew

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Angel Canino quickly rises from a scary neck injury that required hospitalization, while rookie setter Mikole Reyes continues to impress as La Salle blasts rival Ateneo for the 16th straight time in UAAP women's volleyball

MANILA, Philippines – It was business as usual for the La Salle Lady Spikers as they handed longtime rivals Ateneo Blue Eagles another whooping in UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball, this time to the tune of a 25-21, 25-18, 25-20 rout at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednedsday, April 2.

With its 16th straight win over its rival in the books, La Salle kept a firm hold of solo second place with a 7-3 record, just behind league leader NU (9-1), while Final Four-chasing Ateneo fell to 4-6 in sixth place behind No. 5 UP (4-5).

Angel Canino marked a quick and triumphant return from a scary neck injury that needed immediate hospitalization with a game-high 16 points to go with 7 digs and 6 excellent receptions, while rookie setter Mikole Reyes continued her mid-season surge after a shaky start with 19 excellent sets.

Legendary head coach Ramil de Jesus praised her first-year playmaker after regularly being tough on her in the past few games, saying that she’s finding her groove as the season progresses.

“That’s her decision-making on display because she saw that we needed to maximize the middles,” he said in Filipino. “She saw the situations that were working and she fed the middles, so thankfully, it all worked out.”

Down 7-2 in the third set after cruising ahead in the first two, La Salle cashed in quickly on Ateneo’s barrage of errors and mounted an 11-4 rally to swing the game back to its favor, 13-11.

The two sides kept it close until the 17-15 mark before Reyes triggered the middles on the way to a small but crucial 3-1 swing, all off middle blocker points for the 20-16 advantage.

Ateneo got back within two, 20-18, but it was the closest it could get as Canino and the rest of La Salle’s wingers retook the spotlight for a 5-2 finishing kick to seal the deal.

AC Miner paced the sorry loss with 13 points, while captain Lyann de Guzman got checked to just 9, despite a decent effort by Taks Fujimoto with 17 excellent sets. – Rappler.com