SSC belles, Knights blast NC volley foes

MANILA, Philippines - San Sebastian rallied from a six-point deficit in the fifth and final set to turn back St. Benilde, 20-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 16-14, to gain the headstart in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament finals at The Arena in San Juan City over the weekend.

Warren Pirante hammered 25 hits he laced with four blocks while Eynard Vergara came through with 15 hits of his own to lift Letran to a marathon 25-23, 17-25, 11-25, 25-23, 19-17 win over San Beda in men’s play.

In juniors’ action, Wilfred Pelone and John Erickson Francisco combined for 41 hits as Perpetual Help posted a 25-19, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20 victory over San Sebastian to inch closer to a first ever crown.

With the game tied at 14 in the deciding set, the power-hitting Joy Benito came through with back-to-back kills to spark the come-from-behind triumph for the Lady Stags, who will try to wrap things up in Game Two of their best-of-three series on Thursday.

The Lady Blazers actually appeared headed for the victory as they zoomed to an 8-2 lead in the decider only to sputter in the end, enabling the Lady Stags to fight back and steal the victory.

San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb later said they need to minimize their errors if they want to seal their fifth straight crown.

“We committed so many errors in Game One, we really need to minimize it in Game Two,” said Gorayeb, whose charges are gunning for their 23rd NCAA title overall, in Filipino.

After San Beda forced a 17-all count on a drop shot by Leonel Laraya, Erickson Ramos scored on a crisp kill and Renz Ordonez unloaded the game-clinching ace to seal the victory for Letran.