Lady Pirates off to hot start

MANILA, Philippines — Lyceum of the Philippines blasted Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, to open its Pool B campaign in the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Preseason Championship on a high note yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Joan Doguna, Johna Dolorito and Zonxi Dahab displayed composure in the fourth set for the Lady Pirates to foil the Lady General’s attempt to force a fifth frame. Holding on to a slim 20-19 lead, LPU scored four straight points with Dolorito pushing the Lady Pirates at match point, 24-20, off a kill block on EAC hitter Catherine Almazan.

Almazan saved a match point for the Lady Generals before Dahab closed it out with a spike that broke the two-man block of EAC.

LPU head coach Cromwell Garcia lauded his wards for keeping their composure, especially in the tight fourth set.

“They showed maturity down the stretch. That’s what we want to see from them,” said Garcia.

Doguna powered the Lady Pirates with 15 points off 11 attacks, two aces and two kill blocks. Dolorito had 14 markers while Janeth Tulang and Venice Puzon got 12 and 10 points, respectively, for LPU.

Almazan got 20 points while Anne Formento added 17 markers for the Lady Generals.

In the second game, Far Eastern University boosted its bid for a spot in the next round after rolling past Letran, 25-12, 27-25, 25-15, to close its Pool D campaign. Despite a scare in the closing stretch of the second set, the Lady Tamaraws completed their sweep of the debuting Lady Knights to hike their win-loss record to 2-1.

Jean Asis scattered 10 spikes and a kill block for 11 points to lead FEU, which rebounded from a five-set defeat at the hands of La Salle last week.

The Lady Tams will have to wait for other match results in Pool D to determine if they will secure one of the two spots in the next round.

The top two teams in each pool will advance to the next round where they will be divided into two groups for another round-robin play to determine their rankings in the knockout quarterfinals.