MANILA -- Its two thumbs up for the Green and White as the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers repulsed their archrivals Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles in the eliminations of the 72nd UAAP men's volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The country's most famous rival squads traded service aces, good blocks, and smashing hits but the Taft-based tossers prevailed in three straight sets after losing the opening canto to the Katipunan spikers.

Quarter scores are 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 for the La Salle as it improved its win-loss card to 3-4. Ateneo meanwhile slipped to a sluggish 2-5 to end their first round campaign.

The UAAP volleyball follows a double-elimination format where a team meets its opponent twice in a season. The four top teams qualify for the postseason if and when a team doesn't sweep the eliminations.

Veteran playmaker Chris Macasaet tallied 17 points and 14 spikes while Michael Antonio and John de la Vega added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

In the second game, the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors bounced back from their shocking weekend loss to Ateneo by sweeping hapless National University (NU) Bulldogs, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19.

Alvin Vigil led the charge anew for the Recto-based squad by scoring 12 hits while Benchard Pedrano added 11 points to seal its fourth win in seven assignments.

NU fell to 1-6 with the loss. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)