Lady Eagles, Pirates try to complete semis cast

MANILA, Philippines - The Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference quarterfinal round draws to a close today with Ateneo and Lyceum out to complete the Final Four cast and Far Eastern U hoping to force a playoff for the last semis berth at The Arena in San Juan.

While the Lady Pirates are tipped to clinch the third Final Four seat against the ousted National U Lady Bulldogs in the 2 p.m. opener, the Lady Eagles will be hard-pressed to repeat over the Lady Tams in the 4 p.m. encounter expected to go down-to-the-wire.

Ateneo swept FEU in the league’s season-ending inaugurals last July 11 but the Tams are expected to get back at the Eagles and force a playoff for the last Final Four seat.

Lyceum and Ateneo are tied at third with 6-5 slates while FEU is a game behind at 5-6.

San Sebastian-Excelroof and Adamson finished the carryover quarters with identical 10-2 cards but the Lady Stags clinched the No. 1 spot in the Final Four with a superior tiebreak score. They will play the No. 4 squad in the best-of-three series starting Sept. 9.

The Lady Falcons settled for No. 2 and will take on the No. 3, tipped to be Lyceum, in the other semis duel of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Ateneo and FEU dropped their last matches and will have a lot of adjustments to make to ensure the win with the Lady Eagles to pin their hopes on guest player Alyssa Valdez and Thai import Surasawadee Boonyuen and local mainstays Gretchen Ho, Fille Cainglet, Denise Acevedo, Bea Pascua and Angeline Gervacio.

Valdez topscored with 15 hits in the team’s close three-set loss to SSC last Sunday. But the rest, particularly Boonyuen, are expected to step up their game and stay in the hunt for the crown in the tournament organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

The Lady Pirates also lost steam in yielding a three-setter to the Pirates, also last Sunday, but with back against the wall, they are going all out to steal a win and live for another day.

Rachel Anne Daquis, held to just nine points by a tough Lyceum defense the last time out, is expected to lead FEU’s charge in a game they could not afford to lose along with fellow guest player Michelle Carolino and local standouts Cherry Vivas, Monique Tiangco, Gyzelle Sy, Wenneth Eulalio and Kathlene Magsumbol.