Lady Stingers trounce Tams; Falcons advance

MANILA, Philippines - University of St. La Salle-Bacolod showed its readiness for the Final Four as it trounced Far Eastern U, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-10, to sweep Group B at the close of the quarterfinal round of the eighth Shakey’s V-League at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The win gave the Lady Stingers the top spot where they will take on the No. 2 team in Group A in the crossover semis, a best-of-three affair with the winners clashing for the championship in the first conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

But USLS will take on Adamson, which used its championship experience to frustrate Lyceum, 20-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-18, to clinch the No. 2 spot in Group A and the last semifinal seat.

The Stingers, however, will be reinforced by UST star Aiza Maizo, who will take over the slot of libero Rebbie Delontindo, who will do a scouting job for the USLS junior team in the Palarong Pambansa in Zamboanga del Norte starting Sunday.

“We will try our best in semis. We have achieved our target to get into the semis. Making the finals would be a big bonus,” said USLS coach Roger Banzula.

Ateneo clinched the No. 1 seat in Group A and will face National U in the other Final Four pairing tomorrow.

The Lady Bulldogs finished second in Group B, besting Southwestern U (1-2) and FEU, which closed out with a 0-3 card.

Nerissa Bautista, a former two-time MVP, played true to form and fired 29 hits while Pau Soriano added 15 points and Angela Benting backed them up with 13 kills to power the Lady Falcons to the Final Four and stay on track for back-to-back championships after ruling last year’s second conference of the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel and Mikasa.

It was a sorry loss for the Lady Pirates, who came out strong in the first set but lost steam in the face of the Falcons’ strong comeback.

Mary Jean Balse, also a former MVP, scored 23 and fellow guest player Dahlia Cruz and Joy Cases added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Lyceum which wound up with a 1-2 card in a tie with Perpetual Help.

Earlier, Patty Orendain, the league’s leading scorer, uncorked another 17-point performance, including 14 kills and two blocks while Kay Aplasca added 16 hits, highlighted by three blocks for the amazing Stingers.

In its first-ever semis stint, USLS will parade beach volleyball standout Jovelyn Gonzaga, who will replace American guest player Jayde Hair, who had to go back to the US for her graduation. Hair finished with two points yesterday.

April Hingpit backed Orendain and Aplasca with nine hits while Charmaine Moralde added five points and Gianes Dolar and Mary Abayon chipped in three points apiece.

Maica Morada fired 15 points while guest player Rachel Daquis made 11 hits for the Lady Tamaraws, who dropped out of contention after bowing to the Lady Bulldogs last Sunday.