San Sebastian halts streaking La Salle

San Sebastian dealt De La Salle its very first loss after 11 wins as it wore down the first finalist in a tough, grueling fourth set encounter to complete a 25-13. 17-25, 25-18, 34-32 victory and close in on playoff for the second finals berth in the V-League presented by Shakey’s at the Blue Eagle gym yesterday.

SSC’s Jaroensri Bualee outplayed and outfoxed Jindarat Kanchana in a duel of Thai imports, firing 31 points, including two kills that pierced through De La Salle’s defense and ended the one-hour and 53-minute encounter between two of the league’s fancied squads.

The victory was eighth against four defeats for the SSC spikers, who grabbed solo second from erstwhile joint second placer Adamson (7-4) behind De La Salle’s 11-1 mark. It was also the Recoletos-based squad’s fourth victory in the semis, thus moving it within a win from availing itself of the league’s 5-of-8 incentive rule for a playoff for the second championship slot.

Laurence Ann Latigay and Joy Pulido tossed in 14 and 11 points for San Sebastian, which blew two-set lead and dropped the next three and the match to De La Salle when they first met in the semis last June 2.

This time, however, the SSC tossers knew what they had to do.

With De La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus opting for new combinations, the Lady Stags seized control early and took the first set with relative ease, 25-13, only to sputter in the face of the Lady Archers’ heads up game in the second frame that reduced the match to a best of three.

With Bualee on the firing end, SSC got back at DLSU and took the third set but got dragged into a thrilling see-saw battle in the fourth where the Lady Stags proved steadier than the Taft-based spikers.

Kanchanca wound up with 11 points for De La Salle, which also drew 10 points from Michelle Datuin and nine points each from Manilla Santos and Desiree Hernandez.

Earlier, Lyceum dashed Far Eastern U’s title hopes in the event presented by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision as it fashioned out a 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 victory. It was only the fifth win in 12 games of the Lady Pirates, who tied their victim for fourth in the tournament backed by Accel, Mikasa, Aquabest, Vfresh, ABC-5 and ABC Sports.