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
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