Defending champion La Salle fired a strong warning to all its rivals by downing Shakey’s V-League back-to-back champion University of Santo Tomas, 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11, in the 72nd UAAP women's volleyball tournament Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan.

Stephanie Mercado and Charleen Cruz accounted for the large chunk of the Lady Archers' output with 28 and 21 points, respectively, as the Lady Archers completed their big comeback after dropping the first set.

Mercado, daughter of former Asian Games sprint queen Lydia de Vega-Mercado, was dominant, shattering UST’s defense repeatedly with her booming spikes.

After dropping the first set, the Lady Archers buckled down to serious work, coming through with tough defensive plays to frustrate UST’s top gunners.

Lefty Aiza Maizo, last season's top scorer, led the way for UST with 21 points while rookie Maruja Banaticla added 18 markers.

In the other game, Adamson overcame an exhausting third set to beat Far Eastern University, 25-18, 25-17, 30-28.

Angela Benting scored 24 points for the Lady Falcons.

Shaira Gonzalez had 13 points for the Lady Tamaraws, who will play this season without fan favorite Rachel Anne Daquis and spiker Maica Morada.