UP Maroons beat La Salle Lady Spikers in five-set thriller

The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons kept their Final Four hopes alive by defeating La Salle Lady Spikers in a thrilling five-set match with scores of 26-24, 18-25, 19-25, 25-22, and 16-14 on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Joan Monares led UP with 16 points, while Kassandra Doering's crucial performance in the fifth set secured a hard-fought victory for the team, ending their seven-game losing streak against La Salle since Season 81 in 2019.

Despite trailing two sets to one and facing match point, UP managed to force and win a decisive fifth set despite La Salle's strong performance from Shevana Laput who scored 27 points.

With this win, UP improved their season record to 6-6 while La Salle remains tied with UST at 8-4, halting the Lady Spikers' advance into guaranteed semifinals berths.

UP still has two matches left against UST on April 23 and Adamson on April 27, keeping them in contention for a Final Four spot.