Lady Falcons thwart Blazers

MANILA, Philippines - Adamson bounced back from an opening game loss as it turned back College of St. Benilde, 25-11, 25-14, 23-25, 25-22, to stay in contention in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Angela Benting rammed in 27 points on 21 hits, four service aces and two blocks while Pau Soriano and guest player Nene Bautista added 18 points each for the ailing Lady Falcons, who evened their card at 1-1 in Group B.

“I needed to use all my players, even the new ones, because most of them are suffering from colds,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante, whose wards dropped a four-setter to the Lyceum Lady Pirates last Tuesday.

The loss dropped St. Benilde to 0-2 with the Lady Blazers needing to sweep their last two games against Lyceum and Univ. of San Jose-Recoletos to keep their flickering quarterfinal hopes alive.

Only the top four teams after the single round elims in Groups A and B will advance to the next round of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and presented by PLDT MyDSL.

University of St. La Salle-Bacolod debuted with flourish, beating Far Eastern University, 25-22, 25-8, 25-11, in the second game.

Patty Orendain struck for 16 hits while Kay Aplasca added 15 points for the Lady Stingers, who are in a tough Group A that includes UST, San Sebastian and Southwestern University.

“Our games clicked although my players were a bit nervous in the first set,” said USLS mentor Roger Banzuela in Filipino.

The 5-foot-6 Orendain finished with three service aces and came away with nine digs.

Despite the absence of guest player Michelle Laborte, the Lady Stingers still came out with eight blocks, including four from Aplasca and two from Gianes Dolar.

Cherry Vivas and Monique Tiangco struggled in offense and could only churn out a combined 11-point output for the Lady Tamaraws, who slid to 0-2 in Group A.

The Lady Falcons, runners-up to the UST Tigresses in the last conference of the league backed by Accel, Mikasa and Mighty Bond, actually played without two of their stars in guest player Cha-Cha Moralde and veteran Jill Gustilo.

But the rest, including Bautista, combined to deliver the win for the San Marcelino-based squad.

In fact, Bautista bucked colds to fire 18 hits, the same output put in by Soriano while Angelica Quinlog, Luisa Zapanta and Ma. Lourdes Patilano pooled 10 points.

Moralde failed to see action due to fever while Gustilo didn’t suit up for disciplinary reasons.

“We may have struggled but we remain confident of our chances,” said Pante. “We just need to stay focused and play with a lot of discipline.”

The Blazers groped for form in defense but still found a way to extend the match with a big third-set performance, only to falter in the fourth.