They danced, clowned and laughed around during breaks in between sets and timeouts.

But when the going got tough, the University of St. La Salle-Integrated School volleybelles was bad news to the opposition.

The La Sallians subdued Doña Hortensia Salas Benedicto National High School of La Carlota City twice in an epic series over the weekend to wrest the provincial crown of the Shakey's Invitational Girls' Volleyball League in Bacolod City. Stung by a heart-rending five-set defeat yesterday morning, the girls of coach Malot Lozada returned to court with great resolve and hammered out a title-clinching 25-17, 16-25, 25-19, 25-18 victory in a do-or-die duel that lasted 65 minutes at the USLS College Covered Court.

I told them to go out there and enjoy the game, Lozada said, but I also remind them when they should step up.

And the IS girls needed a lot of those reminders, especially after they celebrated too early and squandered five championship points in a heart-stopping 25-22, 25-16, 25-21, 23-25, 16-18 defeat that took away their twice-to-beat edge.

In a match that took an hour and 55 minutes to complete, USLS piled up the points on Dancel Jan Dusaran's serve to erase a 4-10 deficit down in the final set and take a 14-11 lead, before a string of unforced errors allowed DHSBNHS to force the rubber match.

The depth of the La Salle roster, however, proved too strong for the hard-fighting squad from La Carlota.

Refreshed by a two and a half hour-break, the La Sallians, whose clinical 25-15, 25-15 win over DHSBNHS Saturday put them in the finals, poured it on against a team that was already playing its fourth match in two days.

And save for their second-set struggle and the occasional errors, they were in fearsome form.

Attackers Dusaran, Gianes Dolar, Fritz Joy Gallenero, Kaye Zaldarriaga and Bea Tan took turns in puncturing the DHSBNHS defense.

With the help of libero Kristine Caro, they also limited the effectiveness of Patty Jean Orendain, the main attacking option for DHSBNHS, when the game was on the line.

Zaldarriaga's splendid performance more than made up for her blunder in the final set in the morning match, where she committed two crucial errors that paved the way for DHSBNHS' comeback.

Down two sets to one, DHSBNHS took the initiative early in the fourth set, 4-2, before La Salle's attackers, making the most out of Vaniessa Aboy's sets, got their rhythm. Their blocking clicked as well.

The result was a 15-10 cushion and while Orendain, attacking from the backline, and Charmain Moralde pulled DHSBNHS within two, 19-17, kills from Dusaran and Zaldarriaga kept La Salle afloat.

Then, Tan put up a string of three service aces that all but wrapped up the match, 23-17.

The championship was completed after nine exciting sets when Moralde's spike went long.

"It was a great match. We have to give credit to them (DHSBNHS) as well," said Lozada, who, along with assistant Rebbie Delotindo will now focus their attention on the national finals starting July 19.

Lozada the four-day respite before the nationals is just enough for her team. "There's more to come from this team," she said.

Also part of the La Salle squad are Jane Borero, Janelle Cawaling, Yricka Navarro, Merryl Soriano and Katrina Hinolan.

DHSBNHS mentor Archel Jumallo rued his team's missed chances, pointing to the players' lack of match practice due to the rains that hit La Carlota last week.

After losing to La Salle Saturday, Jumallo's team booked a return duel, after formally dethroning Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School, 25-22, 25-16.

The loss relegated DMLMHS to third place, while the team it earlier conquered, La Consolacion College, 23-25, 25-9, 25-19, was fourth.

Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod settled for fifth place by dumping St. Benilde School, 25-23, 23-26, 25-21. *CPT

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