Inside Sports » Volleyball

ATENEO LADY EAGLES SOAR TO FIRST SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE TITLE

ronnie — Tue, 17 May 2011 15:35:07 +0000

The Ateneo Lady Eagles soared to their first Shakey’s V League title by sweeping the Adamson Lady Falcons two games to nil in the best-of-three championship series before a wildly cheering crowd at The Arena in San Juan.

SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE AWARDS

ronnie — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:03:34 +0000

PHOTOS BY BEN MANICLANG Awarding of Best of the Best ( BM

ATENEO LADY EAGLES WANT TO CLAW LADY FALCONS ONCE MORE

ronnie — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:54:32 +0000

Ateneo’s Lady Eagles, fresh from a surprising Game 1 victory over the fancied Adamson University want to claw the Lady Falcons one more time and climch their first ever Shakey’s V League Championship at The Arena in San Juan on Tuesday.

Ateneo soared to new heights with a big win in the opening of their best-of-three championship battle against Adamson, clawing back from a first set loss to keep their composure for the win and move to the brink of winning the title in the most popular women’s volleyball league in the country.

The Lady Eagles saw Adamson finish with an 8-0 run to capture the first set 25-23 but played the crucial points with confidence to rattle off the next three sets 25-18, 25-20 and 25-20 to move within one game of finally bagging the elusive crown after a series of sorry campaigns, including a setback to the same team in the 2008 first conference finals.

Likewise, the gutsy University of St. La Salle Bacolod tries to clinch the bronze medal in their own best-of—three series against National University. The Lady Stingers also came back from a first set loss to beat National University Bulldogs 16-25, 25-15, 25-23 and 25-22.

Another big crowd is expected for the games which begin with the third place battle at 2:00 p.m. followed by the championship match at 4:00 p.m.

Adamson are determined to come back but Ateneo is just as determined to seal the deal and prevent a sudden death playoff on Thursday.

Attractive Ateneo head coach and former player Charo Soriano said they will make “some minor adjustments, especially on our reception,” as she goes after a coveted title in her first year as a rookie coach.

Despite the win, the former Ateneo star said the Lady Eagles had a hard time getting the ball to their setter (Jem Ferrer), saying: “That’s why it was very hard coming up with combination plays where we normally score.”

Veteran Adamson coach Dulce Pante said the Lady Eagles were just a bit lucky to take the series opener and vowed to square off the series. She said “I think they (Lady Eagles) were just lucky as my stars’ games were off that day.But we’re not losing hope and I believe we can still win.”.

Her stars, guest players Nerissa Bautista and Michelle Laborte who are both members of the Philippine National Team played poorly and their performance affected the rest of the squad. Ateneo on the other hand lifted the quality of their game anchored by Thai star and newly-crowned MVP Lithawat Kesinee, most improved player Fille Cainglet, Alyssa Valdez and Ferrer with the 25-year-old Soriano also eyeing to become the youngest coach to win in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Lithawat finished with 24 hits, including a conference-high 13 blocks in Game One.

Soriano said Ateneo was going to “focus more on our coverage. They (Lady Falcons) have really good blockers” even as she stressed that her players need to minimize their service errors.

1st Photo:

# 14 May Jennifer Macatuno ( ADu )

# 1 Aerieal Patnongon, # 2 Alyssa Valdez ( ADMU )

2nd Photo:

# 15 Fille St. Meced Cainglet, # 14 Lithawat Kesinee ( ADMU )

# 10 Angelica Quinlog, # 17 Mic-Mic Laborte, # 11 Nerissa Bautista ( ADu )

3rd Photo:

# 15 Fille St. Merced Cainglet, # 18 Lithawat Kesinee ( ADMU )

# 17 Mic-Mic Laborte, # 11 Nerissa Bautista ( ADu )

4th Photo:

# 2 Paulina Soriano, # Shiela Pineda, # 17 Mic-Mic Laborte ( ADu )

# 15 Fille St. Merced Cainglet, # 18 Lithawat Kesinee ( ADMU )

ATENEO DE MANILA won 23/25 – 25/18 – 25/20 – 25/20

( BEN MANICLANG )

ADAMSON WINS SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE TITLE IN SUDDEN DEATH GAME

ronnie — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:49:47 +0000

Adamson outfoxed San Sebastian-Excelroof in a tense-filled first-set duel then imposed its will on both ends in the next two to complete a 26-24, 25-17, 25-16 sweep and clinch the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference crown before a big crowd at The Arena in San Juan.

Former MVP Nerissa Bautista delivered 14 kills and wound up with 17 points while Angela Benting rebounded from a mediocre stint in Game Two to fire 13 points, matching Pau Soriano’s output, and Michelle Laborte backed them up with 10 hits as the Lady Falcons turned what had appeared to be another cliffhanger to a three-set romp.

Bautista went on to win the series MVP honors. Adamson, which took the opener in five sets but lost the second in four, thusclinched the best-of-three series, 2-1, for its second championship in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.
It was a remarkable season for the San Marcelino-based squad, which finished fifth in the first conference but worked its way to the top through hardwork, determination and defense.

“Discipline was the key to this win,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante, who also steered the team to victory in the 2008 first conference.

“But this win was sweeter since it went to three games. It was tough but we did it through my players’ determination,” said Pante in Filipino. Adamson became just the third team after UST(six) and La Salle (three) with two or more titles in the country’s premier women’s volley league organized by Sports Vision.

The Lady Falcons outhit the league’s top attacking squad, 48-33, and outblocked their rivals, 9-2, en route to victory that capped a sterling campaign in the season-ending conference highlighted by a sweep of the quarterfinal round.

The Lady Stags last took the lead at 24-23 in the opening frame but Bautista came through with back-to-back kills then reserve Sheila Pineda scored on an ace to snatch the win. Adamson sustained its form in the second, pouncing on the Stags’ errors to build leads of as many as nine, 16-7, to go 2-up then Bautista, Laborte, Benting and Soriano combined again in the third to complete the sweep.

It was the second straight runner-up finish and sixth overall for the Lady Stags, who also lost the first conference crown to UST, also in sudden death. It was also the sixth time that Thai import Jeng Bualee failed to win a crown in the league backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof. Bualee finished with 17 points but no local Stag scored in double-digits as they struggled in the face of the Lady Falcons no-nonsense defense. Elaine Cruz had eight hits and Joy Benito was held to just five points.

FEU DEFEATS ATENEO TO CLINCH LAST SEMI FINAL SLOT

ronnie — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:34:02 +0000

In one of the most fiercely contested games with tremendous defense on both sides of the court, Far Eastern University won a gripping four-setter against Ateneo 24-26, 26-24, 25-20, 25-19 to clinch the fourth and last Final Four berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan, Sunday.

The Lady Tams, backed by a good crowd of supporters,drew double-digit outputs from four players to underscore their determined bid with guest players Rachel Anne Daquis and Michelle Carolino leading the attack with 22 and 21 hits, respectively.

Cherry May Vivas who hammered home some incredible hits unloaded 16 points while Monique Tiangco added 13 as the Lady Tams outhit the Lady Eagles, 65-46, in their sudden death duel for the last semis seat in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s
Pizza.

FEU, which stopped Ateneo also in four sets in the last quarterfinal round game day to force a playoff, took the No. 4 spot in the semis and will face top seed San Sebastian-Excelroof in a best-of-three series.

Adamson, which finished tied for first with SSC at 10-2 but lost in the tiebreak for the No. 1 spot, will take on Lyceum in the other Final Four duel starting Thursday.

Ateneo took a tense first set but even though the Lady Eagles were outhit most of the way they managed to keep the game close after dropping the second set, but Thai import Surasawadee Boonyuen and Fille Cainglet failed to draw the much-needed backup from the rest of the team.

Boonyuen scattered 19 kills and finished with 21 points while Cainglet came through with 10 hits, including nine attacks. But Gretchen Ho was held to just eight hits while Bea Pascual and Denise Acevedo combined for just 13 hits for the Loyola-based squad.

FEU was also in control at the net coming up with 12 blocks.

The Lady Tams also control the net, coming up with 12 blocks, including six from Carolino, while the Eagles drew three blocks from Pascual and finished with a total of seven.

Wenneth Eulalio and Gyzelle Sy also combined for eight hits for the Lady Tams who thus stayed in the hunt for a crack at a first-ever crown in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

Meanwhile, the FEU-Ateneo game will be shown at 2 p.m. Monday over the government television network NBN 4 and replayed over Viva Prime on the Destiny cable network.

LYCEUM FORCES PLAYOFF FOR FINAL 4 BERTH IN SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE

ronnie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:47:23 +0000

Lyceum fended off Far Eastern U in a tough second set duel then hung tough in the third to fashion out a 25-18, 27-25, 25-21 victory and assure itself of a playoff for the last Final Four berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan last Sunday.

The Lady Pirates drew another pair of solid games from their guest players as Mary Jean Balse unloaded 24 hits and Dahlia Cruz provided the needed backup of 15 points as the Muralla-based squad stayed on course of its first-ever title bid in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

The victory was Lyceum’s sixth against five losses as it tied Ateneo in third heading into the last quarterfinal playdate where it will face ousted National U on Thursday.

FEU dropped to 5-6, turning its final match against Ateneo a battle for the last semifinal berth in the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

San Sebastian-Excelroof turned back Ateneo, 25-19, 25-17, 27-25, also last Sunday to finish with a 10-2 slate in a tie with two-time tormentor Adamson, which also won NU, 25-20, 25-14, 25-20. But the Lady Stags beat the Lady Falcons in the tiebreak to clinch the top spot in the semis.

SSC wound up witha ratio of 1.309 as against Adamson’s 1.124.
Balse, a former league MVP, fired 20 kills while Cruz had 14 as the duo presided over Lyceum’s attack in the 1:16-hour encounter. Joy Cases had eight points while Marie Casanova came up with three blocks and finished with seven points for the Pirates, who also drew four hits apiece from Jamie Peña and Ann Tabafunda.

Cherry Vivas and Michelle Carolino took over for FEU but Rachel Ann Daquis was held to just nine points by the tough Lyceum net defense. Monique Tiangco had eight while Wenneth Eulalio added five and Gyzelle Sy made four points for the Pirates, who must now beat the Lady Eagles to advance.

SSC will face the No. 4 team while Adamson will take on the No. 3 squad in a pair of best-of-three semifinal matches starting Sept. 9.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BEN MANICLANG

SAN SEBASTIAN GAINS TOP SPOT IN SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE FINAL 4

ronnie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:47:34 +0000

San Sebastian-Excelroof repulsed Ateneo in a big third set comeback to complete a 25-19, 25-17, 27-25 victory and gain the top spot in the Final Four of the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan, Sunday.

The Lady Stags, after taking the first two sets, trailed the Lady Eagles majority of the third but made one big run in the stretch, forcing a tie at 23.

Ateneo still took the next point but San Sebastian won four of the next five points to clinch the victory in 1:12.

Earlier, Adamson completed its sweep of the quarterfinal round of the
season-ending conference sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza, fashioning out a three-set romp over ousted National University, 25-20, 25-14, 25-20.
SSC thus tied Adamson on top with 10-2 slates at the end of the quarters but the Lady Stags claimed the No. 1 spot in the Final Four with a superior quotient under FIVB rules.

The Lady Stags will thus meet the No. 4 team in the best-of-three semis, a spot being disputed by Lyceum and Far Eastern U.
The Lady Falcons, who dealt the Stags’ two losses, settled for No. 2 and will take on the Lady Eagles in the other semis encounter.

Suzanne Roces fired 11 hits for SSC and led the team’s fightback in the third to emerge the game’s best player. Thai ace Jeng Bualee again led SSC with 19 hits while Joy Benito and Elaine Cruz added 12 and eight points, respectively.

Alyssa Valdez stepped up for Ateneo with 15 hits as Thai import Surasawadee Boonyuen was held to seven points, the same output put in by Fille Cainglet for the Lady Eagles, who dropped to 6-5.

Ateneo now needs to beat FEU (5-5) in the final quarters playdate on Thursday for the No. 3 berth in the tournament organized by Sports vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

The Lady Falcons outspiked the Bulldogs, 43-26, drawing a combined 23-attack effort from Nerissa Bautista and Angela Benting. Bautista, a former MVP, wound up with 13 hits while Benting added 11 points
matched by Adamson’s other guest player in Michelle Laborte, who highlighted her game with three blocks.

Pau Soriano had nine hits while Gail Martin and Lourdes Patilano tossed in five and four points, respectively, for the streaking San Marcelino-based tossers, seeking their second championship in the league.

Adamson humbled Ateneo to capture the 2008 first conference crown but has not since figured in a title chase until it re-displayed its championship form.NU took its ninth loss against two wins under the carryover format but the Lady Bulldogs hope to learn much in their debut in the country’s premier amateur volley league for a more formidable campaign next year.

Guest player Denise Santiago came away with 13 hits while Mervic Mangui delivered 12 points as the Lady Bulldogs kept the game close in two of the three sets only to falter at endgame.

Maricar Nepomuceno added seven hits but Daphne Santiago, the team’s other guest player, had only one hit off the bench.
Carmina Aganon made four points while Rizza Mandapat, Precious Salibad and Jocelyn Soliven combined for six points for the Bulldogs.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BEN MANICLANG

SAN SEBASTIAN CLINCHES FINAL 4 BERTH IN SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE

ronnie — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:19:39 +0000

Photos courtesy of Benjamin Maniclang

San Sebastian-Excelroof overwhelmed Far Eastern U with its power game to essay a straight-set 25-22, 25-9, 25-17 romp and clinched a Final Four berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan Sunday.

Jeng Bualee and Suzanne Roces combined for 27 of the Lady Stags’ 45 kills that almost doubled the Lady Tams’ measly 24-attack effort in a 64-minute encounter that was close only in the opening set.

For the Recoletos-based tossers doubled their effort in the second, holding their rivals to just nine points before sustaining their attacking form in the third to complete the victory, their eighth against two loss.

SSC thus broke away from a tie with Adamson (7-2) while dampening FEU’s semifinal bid in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza. The Lady Tams stayed in fifth with a 4-5 slated, 1 ½ games behind the fourth-running Lyceum (5-3).
Bualee finished with 18 points while Roces had 10 and Elaine Cruz, Jennelyn

Belen, Joy Benito and Melissa Mirasol combined for 24 hits for the Lady Stags.

FEU drew 11 points from Rachel Anne Daquis but no other Tam scored in double figures with Michelle Carolino struggling for six points and Cherry Vivas groping for four hits.

Earlier, Ateneo scrambled past a hard-fighting National U side and took a tough 25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 25-23 decision as it wheeled back into solo third in the quarterfinal round of the tournament organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

The Lady Eagles swept the last five points in the fourth set, completing their fightback from 20-23 down and frustrating the Lady Bulldogs while enhancing their Final Four bid in the season-ending conference of the league.

With a 6-3 (win-loss) card, Ateneo moved up to solo third behind joint leaders San Sebastian-Excelroof and Adamson, which tote identical 7-2 cards heading into the last three playdates of the single round robin, carry-over quarters.

It was a big comeback by the Lady Eagles in the fourth frame as it dropped a close, controversial third set that kept the Lady Bulldogs into the match.

However, the former, which bowed to Lyceum in five after taking the first two sets, recovered in time to wrap up the crucial win in 1:41.
NU dropped to 2-7 and will need to sweep its last three games and hope that FEU and Lyceum post not more than five wins to force a playoff for the fourth and last semis berth in the tournament.

Surasawadee Boonyuen finally asserted her might and came away with 21 kills for a 22-point output while Gretchen Ho and Fille Cainglet tossed in 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lady Eagles.
While Cainglet provided solid backup to Boonyuen with 10 attacks, Ho combined with Denise Acevedo in defense as they finished with five blocks.

The Lady Bulldogs actually performed better on the net upfront, coming up with 11 blocks but they were outhit by the Loyola-based spikers, 47-62.

Guest player Denise Santiago matched Boonyuen’s 22 hits while Mervic Mangui had a solid 18-hit effort. But the Lady Bulldogs wavered in the fourth in the face of the Eagles’ spirited rally.

Maricar Nepomuceno had nine points while Carmina Aganon and Rhea Sante had seven and six hits, respectively, for the Lady Bulldogs, who will try to stay in the race against the Tams on Thursday.

Games Thursday
2 p.m. – FEU vs NU
4 p.m. – Adamson vs Ateneo
6 p.m. – SSC vs Lyceum

SAN SEBASTIAN TROUNCES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE QUARTERS

ronnie — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:57:14 +0000

San Sebastian-Excelroof recovered from a shaky third set performance with an imposing game in the fourth as it trounced National University, 25-15, 25-12, 24-26, 25-13, to regain the lead in the quarterfinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan Thursday.

Relaxing a bit after dominating the Lady Bulldogs in the first two sets, the Lady Stags found themselves stalled in the third and needed to put their act together to blast their rivals and complete the win in 1:23.

It was SSC’s seventh victory against two defeats, both dealt by Adamson, as the Lady Stags resumed their drive for a berth in the Final Four of the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

NU dropped to 2-6.Thai import Jeng Bualee knocked down 30 hits in an overpowering show of offense that included 28 attacks as she made mincemeat of NU’s net defense all throughout the contest.

Three other Stags churned out double-digit scores to underscore the team’s domination of the Lady Bulldogs with guest player Suzanne Roces unleasing 16 hits and Elaine Cruz and Joy Benito adding 11 and 10 points, respectively.

SSC came away with a total of 65 hits, almost doubling the 37-hit production of NU, which drew 19 points from Mervic Mangui and 15 points from guest player Denise Santiago.

The Lady Bulldogs actually finished with nine blocks as against their rivals five but the big number of attacks dished out by the Stags proved too much for the newcomer team to overcome.

Maricar Nepomuceno added eight hits for NU, now needing to win at least three of the last four games to stay in the hunt for the last semis seat in the tournament organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

Adamson matched SSC’s four-set win as it scrambled past Far Eastern U, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-17, to remain tied for the lead with the Lady Stags.

Angela Benting fired 20 hits and former MVP Nerissa Bautista added 17 points as the Lady Falcons continued to flash fine form in their chase for their second championship in the league.

Michell Laborte made six blocks as she took care of Adamson’s net defense with Pau Soriano, who also had three, with the duo combining for 26 points for the Lady Falcons, who stopped the Stags’ run in the elims and then repeated at the start of the quarters in a pair of five-set thrillers.

Rachel Anne Daquis scored 21 hits and Michelle Carolino backed her up with 18 points but the Lady Tams failed to come up with a big follow-up to their third set win and fell to 4-4.

Games Sunday
2 p.m. – NU vs Ateneo
4 p.m. – FEU vs SSC
6 p.m. – Lyceum vs Adamson

Photos courtesy of Ben Maniclang

LYCEUM STUNS ATENEO IN SHAKEY’S V LEAGUE QUARTERS

ronnie — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:49:06 +0000

Lyceum fought back from two sets down, survived a pulsating duel in the fourth then soared above Ateneo’s Lady Eagles in the decider to pound out a 22-25, 16-25, 25-11, 28-26, 15-9 victory and enhance its Final Four bid in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 at The Arena in San Juan late Thursday.

Former MVP Mary Jean Balse towered above the rest with an awesome tournament-best 37-point hit as she outscored Thai import Surasawadee Boonyuen while drawing solid backup from fellow guest player Dahlia Cruz and mainstay Joy Cases to annex the hard-earned
win.

With the win Lyceum tied Ateneo in fourth place with a 5-3 record, two games behind joint leaders San Sebastian-Excelroof and the streaking Adamson but just one game ahead of fifth-running Far Eastern U.

Cruz had 17 kills and wound up with 18 points while Cases finished with 13 hits and Jamie Peña, Marie Casanova and Ann Tabafunda combined for 15 hits for the Lady Pirates, chasing their first semis stint in the last four conferences of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Balse came through with 32 spikes and five blocks to spearhead Lyceum’s come-from-behind win. She also gave a good account of herself in the non-scoring department, coming up with 10 digs and the same number of successful receptions.

The Lady Eagles had looked forward for a trouble-free match after sweeping the first two sets in contrasting fashions but they struggled in the third, scoring only 11 points and then failed to close out Lyceum in an extended four-set duel.

That gave the Lady Pirates the momentum and the confidence as they outhit the Lady Eagles in the deciding set to clinch the win and resume their semis drive after a roller-coaster campaign in the elims of the tournament organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

Guest player Alyssa Valdez took over for Ateneo and fired 17 hits while Angeline Gervacio added 14. Boonyuen chipped in 13 hits while Gretchen Ho scored three blocks and wound up with 11 points for the Eagles, also seeking a first semis appearance in the last four conferences.

Earlier, Adamson beat FEU, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-17, and SSC-Excelroof turned back National University, 25-15, 25-12, 24-26, 25-13, to remain tied for the lead with 7-2 slates.