Lady Falcons down Chiefs, reach quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines - Adamson used it vaunted firepower to seize control then went to its blocking department to finish off Arellano, 25-17, 25-21, 25-21, and advance to the quarterfinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 First Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Former ace Angela Benting and Marleen Cortel combined at the net to foil the Lady Chiefs’ attacks at the end of the third set, completing the straight-set win in 74 minutes and joining their victims and unbeaten Group B leader National U Lady Bulldogs (3-0) in the next round with a 2-1 mark.

Ateneo later completed its sweep of Group A by thumping La Salle-Dasmariñas, 25-12, 25-12, 25-17, as Rachel Anne Daquis and Fille Cainglet teamed up to fire 23 hits.

The Lady Eagles also pounced on the Lady Patriots’ poor reception, scoring a whopping 11 aces with Cainglet firing four of her 10-point output and Marge Tejada adding two.

Ateneo’s top hitter Alyssa Valdez stayed in the background for the second straight game, finishing with eight hits but provided five digs, while Mary Tajima added seven marks for the defending back-to-back champions.

La Salle-Dasma, which could only draw 20 hits from four players, dropped to 1-2, enabling winless San Sebastian and Letran, both 0-2, to stay in the hunt for the quarterfinal berth.

Benting uncorked an 18-hit game and provided the power and leadership for the former two-time champions, who also drew 12 points from skipper Pau Soriano and eight hits apiece from Shiela Pineda and Faye Guevara.

But Adamson coach Sherwin Meneses cited his wards’ superb reception all game as well as blocking late in the match which they hope to sustain as they step up their bid in the league sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

“Our blocking makes a big impact in our campaign since we have a taller lineup compared to the previous year,” said Meneses, who also credited libero’s Princess Listana’s heads-up game.

Meanwhile, the Adamson-Arellano game will be shown on GMA News TV Channel 11 at 1 p.m. today with the Ateneo-La Salle-Dasma duel, still being played at presstime, to be shown tomorrow, also starting at 1 p.m., according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Former MVPs Mary Jean Balse and Nerissa Bautista conspired in another 26-kill effort for Arellano but just couldn’t deliver the goods towards the end of the second and third frames.

Elain Sagun added seven points while Danna Henson and Shirly Salamagos chipped in four hits apiece for the Lady Chiefs, who also advanced despite the loss at 2-2.

While dominating the scoring skills department, the Lady Falcons also lorded it over the Chiefs in the non-scoring sides, coming up with 33 digs as against their rivals’ 19, and 27 excellent sets against 18 by Arellano.

Adamson unleashed 47 spikes to tower over Arellano, which had 36, and came through with nine blocks to highlight its romp.