La Salle hammered out a 25-10, 20-25, 27-25, 25-22 win over a gritty National University in the UAAP Season 81 women's volleyball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Centre on Wednesday.
Luna topscored for La Salle with 14 points while Aduke Ogunsanya had 13 points. Des Cheng added 12 markers.
The Lady Spikers are now atop the heap after rolling to a third straight victory while NU absorbed its second defeat in three matches.
The defending champions looked like they were on their way to an easy victory as they dominated the young Lady Bulldogs in the opening set.
Not to be outdone, NU found its groove and shocked La Salle to take the second frame, 25-20. The Lady Bulldogs brought the same confidence in the next two sets and gave the Lady Spikers a run for their money.
Both teams traded jabs in the fourth frame. With the game on the line, May Luna, Lourdes Clemente, and Des Cheng delivered the biggest blow to pull away for good despite a couple of hits from Princess Robles.
Robles tried to keep the Lady Bulldogs' heads above the water, but Clemente, Luna, and Cheng sealed the match for the Lady Spikers.
Robles paced NU with 18 points while Ivy Lacsina chipped in 16 points.
UE nails first win
Meanwhile, University of the East bucked a slow start to nip Adamson, 20-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-22, in the second game.
The Lady Warriors scored their breakthrough win after dropping their first two matches while adding to the misery of the Lady Falcons.
While UE barged into the win column, Adamson has yet to win a game in the tournament (0-3).
Before gaining the victory, UE had to go through a rough road. After dropping the first set, the Lady Warriors had to bleed to claim the next three sets.
After Bern Flora tied the match at 21-all in the fourth frame, Adamson committed a pair of errors that led to its doom.