14 September 2013, 8:17 p.m. – 
DE LA SALLE University upset two-time defending champion UST Lady Spikers while the Tiger Spikers made it back to the Final Four of the UAAP beach volleyball tournament at the University of the East-Caloocan sand court Saturday.
La Salle forced a rubber match, 21-14, 21-13, in the semifinals after UST duo of last year’s Most Valuable Player Maru Banaticla and Pam Lastimosa displayed poor ball reception in both sets.
The Tiger Spikers whipped Ateneo de Manila University, 21-9, 21-19.
UST’s Kris Roy Guzman and Mark Gil Alfafara wrapped up the eliminations with a 6-1 record at second spot and a twice-to-beat advantage heading into the stepladder semifinals.
National University swept the eliminations with a 7-0 slate to secure an outright Finals ticket with a thrice-to-beat advantage.
Down three points in the second frame, the Lady Spikers banked on drop shots to put UST on top, 11-10.
But Lady Archer Kim Fajardo powered placement attacks that immediately gave La Salle a five-point advantage, 18-13.
Despite the loss, the Lady Spikers remained in contention for their third-straight championship after defeating erstwhile league-leading Adamson University, 21-15, 21-16, to top the eliminations with a 6-1 win-loss record and a twice-to-beat advantage.
“We got overconfident (after beating Adamson). We lost control of our receptions and the wind and rain affected our game, too,” Banaticla said.
In the third set, Jeriel Apelar’s back-to-back hits gave Ateneo a two-point edge, 14-12.
But Alfafara stepped up at the right time for UST after successively denying the attacks of his Ateneo counterparts, 18-15.
The Lady Spikers will try to bounce back against La Salle tomorrow, 8:30 a.m., while the Tiger Spikers will face the winner of the match between the University of the Philippines and the fourth placer at the same venue. Alexis U. Cerado
