SSC squeezes past Lyceum, stays unbeaten

San Sebastian struggled past a tough Lyceum side but prevailed in straight sets just the same, pulling off a 25-22, 26-24, 25-16 victory to remain unbeaten in three starts in the Shakey’s V-League Second Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Coming off a hard-earned five-set win over Ateneo last Tuesday, the SSC tossers wavered in the first two sets, needing to come up with solid hits to foil the upset bid of the tough-defending Lady Pirates.

Thai import Jaroensri Bualee fired 16 attacks, made one block and scored two points off the service to power San Sebastian College to its third straight win.

The loss was Lyceum’s third straight as it fell into a tie with Letran, which earlier bowed to Ateneo.

The Lady Eagles played just well enough to topple Letran tossers, 25-13, 25-17, 25-10, and regain their winning ways in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

Meanwhile, due to NBN-4’s previous commitment, there’ll be no Shakey’s V-League telecast tomorrow but yesterday’s matches between Ateneo and Letran and SSC and Lyceum will be aired today, starting at 1 p.m.

For updates on the country’s premier volley league, features/forum on its top players, complete sked, stats, results and gallery, log on to www.v-league.ph.

With guest player Lithawat Kesinee of Thailand on the firing end, the Lady Eagles needed only a little over one hour to get the job done against the Lady Knights and post their second win in three outings for a share of second with the UST Tigresses and the Adamson Lady Falcons.

Kesinee, a two-time SEA Games veteran, came away with another solid game that saw her uncork 13 kills on her way to a 28-point performance in the tournament backed by Mikasa, Accel, 100Plus Isotonic Drink and Active White Skin whitening products.

Her overpowering performance likewise virtually relegated her teammates to the background unlike inthe first two games with Ma. Rosario Soriano tossing in eight points, Denise Acevedo scoring six and Patricia Taganas and Karla Bello combining for nine points.

But with the Lady Knights failing to neutralize Kesinee’s power and talent, the Ateneo locals just allowed their Thai reinforcement to do her thing on the court.

So outclassed were the Muralla-based tossers that no one churned out a double-digit score with Rossan Fajardo topscoring with eight points, including seven attacks, and Bangladesh Pantaleon knocking down seven points. Guest player Marinel Carolino failed to get her game going and finished with just two points.