De La Salle University moved a win away from clinching the 2023 V-League Men’s Collegiate Challenge after a rousing five-set conquest of University of Santo Tomas, 25-21, 16-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-8, at the Paco Arena in Manila on Wednesday night, September 27.

The Green Spikers thus repeated over the Golden Spikers with the fired-up Taft-based squad going for all clincher starting at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 29.

“Since andito na kami, wala na kaming ibang pupuntahan. No looking back, just forward. Whatever happens, move forward,” acting DLSU coach Jose Roque said.

Up by just two points, 8-6, at the changeover in the decider, De La Salle used a 6-0 blast to settle the outcome with Noel Kampton exploding for four of those attacks. The outside hitter eventually ended the match with a booming kill.

Kampton finished with a game-high 23 markers, 21 coming on attacks, while captain JM Ronquillo shone with 19 points that went with five digs.

Josh Ybañez led UST with 23 points while GBoy De Vega added 19 markers.