Lady Eagles near quarterfinals, overcome hot Pirates

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo bucked a long layoff and a stubborn Lyceum side, pulling off a scary 25-10, 17-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-12 decision to close in on the third quarterfinal berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena late Sunday.

The Lady Eagles, who had not seen action since dropping a 0-3 setback to the San Sebastian tossers last July 22, leaned on their endgame spunk in the fourth set to force a decider then outlasted the Pirates in a finish that could’ve gone either way.

Thai import Surasawadee Boonyuen held her ground against Lyceum’s top hitter Mary Jean Balse, unloading 19 kills before finishing with 23 points that included four service aces.

Denise Acevedo and Angeline Gervacio added 10 hits apiece, Fille Cainglet had seven, Alyssa Valdez, Gretchen Ho and Bea Pascual each had five and Jamenea Ferrer tossed in four points as the Lady Eagles posted their third victory against a loss to seize solo third in the season-ending conference sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

The win, fashioned out in one-hour and 45 minutes of power game and quick plays, actually assured the Loyola-based squad of at least a playoff for the last quarterfinal slot with the Eagles tipped to formalize their stint in the next round with a victory over winless St. Benilde on Thursday.

San Sebastian and Adamson took the first two quarter seats with straight-set victories over National U and St. Benilde last Sunday with the Lady Stags regaining the solo lead at 5-1 and the Falcons moving up to second with a 4-2 slate in the tournament organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

With Balse, a former MVP, on the attack, Lyceum outhit Ateneo, 60-53, and had more blocks, 10-4. But the Lady Eagles came through with the big plays in the fourth and fifth sets to snatch the victory.

The Lady Pirates slid to fifth with a 3-3 behind Far Eastern U, which totes a 3-2 mark, and just ahead of sixth-running NU, which has a 2-3 slate. Balse wound up with 27 hits, including 24 kills and three blocks, while fellow guest player Dahlia Cruz also unleashed a solid game of 20 points. Joy Cases added 13 hits while Jamie Peña, Marie Casanova and Ann Tabafunda combined for 15 points.