The Green Batters tasted their first loss of the tournament against NU, 2-4 last Thursday but bounced back by defeating UP 14-11 yesterday to seal their first finals appearance in 11 seasons.
The Green Batters clinched their first finals appearance in more than a decade after defeating University of the Philippines, 14-11, while the defending champion Blue Eagles beat University of Santo Tomas, 14-4, in seven innings.
The finals match-up was formally settled after National University gave up three runs in the sixth inning to bow to Adamson, 6-4, in the third game as the Bulldogs failed to earn a return trip to the finals following a runner-up finish last year.
The finals was arranged with still two playdates to go in the elimination round.
It will be the first finals stint for De La Salle since 2003 (Season 65) when Joseph Orillana led the team past UP for the crown. Orillana, a long-time national team pitcher and infielder, is now part of the coaching staff of the Taft-based batters.
The Final Four hopes of De La Salle University are very much alive as the Taft Avenue based squad has been on a roll as of late.
Since losing to second place Ateneo de Manila University (8-3), the Green Spikers have won two straight matches including a stunning 29-27, 25-22, 25-22 straight set victory against Far Eastern University on Sunday, February 2, 2014 at the Arena in San Juan City.
La Salle dominated FEU in the blocking department, tallying 14 block points while the Tamaraws managed just 4. The Green Spikers also managed to silence FEU’s scorers as it was only Karl dela Calzada who reached double-digits with 14 points.
Red Christensen and Raymark Woo combined for 31 points to lead La Salle to victory.
Because of the loss, FEU dropped to third place with a 7-4 record while La Salle improved to fifth place at 5-6.
The Lady Batters lost to UE 4-9 last Wednesday as they continue to struggle this season. They are tied with ADMU at the bottom of the standings. Adamson continues to dominate this event as they are in a midst of a 45-game winning streak.
The Lady Booters are officially eliminated from finals contention, losing to FEU 1-2 yesterday. They place are currently at the bottom of the standings. They will end their campaign against UP on February 9.
The Green Booters meanwhile also lost to league-leader FEU 1-2 yesterday as they failed to seal a slot in the Final 4. They still in fourth place in the standings, but with UE trailing them by only two points, they are in a must-win situation in their final elimination round match against NU next Sunday to avoid any possible elimination or playoff scenario.
The Lady Tennisters will be facing NU in the finals as they aim to defend their title. They defeated the Lady Bulldogs 3-2 last Wednesday and UP 4-1 last Saturday.
The men’s team meanwhile this week lost to NU 5-0 and UP 2-3 while ending their season with a 4-1 win over ADMU. They will finish third in the tournament while NU and UP will play in the finals.
The second round of the chess tournament started last weekend. Here are the results:
Feb 1
M DLSU 2.5-1.5 UE
W DLSU 2.5-1.5 UP
Feb 2
M DLSU 1.5-2.5 FEU
W DLSU 3.5-0.5 UST
The UAAP Fencing tournament was held last Thursday and ended yesterday. Here are the final results:
Men’s Division
Team G.S.B
1 UE 4.1.3
2 DLSU 1.1.0
3 ADMU 1.0.2
4 UP 0.2.1
5 UST 0.1.4
6 FEU 0.1.2
7 NU 0.0.0
Women’s Division
Team G.S.B
1 UE 4.2.2
2 UST 1.2.4
3 FEU 1.0.3
4 ADMU 0.2.1
5 DLSU 0.0.2
6 UP 0.0.0