Lyceum overwhelmed Adamson with a splendid all around game to clinch the first semifinal berth while San Sebastian firmed up its own bid with a tough five-set win over Far Eastern U in the Shakey’s V-League at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.
Complementing their power game with a superb court coverage, the Lady Pirates went to guest player Josielyn Degorostiza and Sherrilyn Carrillo in offense and relied on the tandem of Cristina Salak and Beverly Boto in defense to clip the Lady Falcons, 25-11, 25-11, 19-25, 25-15, and extend their win run to five.
That gave the Muralla-based tossers the first slot in the semis phase of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza where the top five teams after a single round robin elims will advance.
The SSC spikers took a step closer to joining streaking Lyceum in the next round, where teams will carry their elims records, as they outlasted the Lady Tams, 22-25, 25-15, 20-25, 25-13, 15-6, for their third victory against a lone setback.
Degorostiza and Carrillo combined for 35 hits with the former finishing with 21 points and the latter 18 points while Salak and Boto teamed up for seven of the team’s 10 blocks while scoring 23 points between them.
The loss was Adamson’s third in as many starts as they joined Letran in the bottom of the eight-team field.
San Sebastian, the 2005-06 NCAA champion, battled back from a 1-2 set deficit by winning the last two in convincing fashions to keep solo second in the event organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa, Accel and Jaemark’s Restaurant and aired over NBN-4 across the week from 2-4 p.m.
Thai Jaroensri Bualee proved unstoppable with her ferocious kills that the Lady Tams failed to neutralize as SSC’s guest player came away with 27 for a 31-point output in the one-hour, 45-minute contest.
Laurence Ann Latigay backed Bualee with 13 kills for a 15-point performance while Jinni Mondejar and Rysabelle Devanadera tossed in 10 and nine points, respectively for San Sebastian, which lost to La Salle in last conference’s finale.
It was a sorry setback for FEU, which appeared headed for a big win after moving up, 2-1. But the Lady Tams lost their poise in the face of the SSC spikers’ unrelenting attack in the last two sets.
Rachelle Daquis led FEU with 19 pionts, including 16 kills, while Mary Rose Cabanag and Ma. Josephine Cafranca added 13 and nine points, respectively. — end it//thanks