SAN Sebastian College-Excelroof and Adamson moved a win away in arranging a championship showdown after beating their foes in Game 1 of the Shakey’s V-League second conference semifinals Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Stags bucked the sidelining of setter Jennelyn Belen and pounced on the absence of Far Eastern University’s top hitter Rachel Anne Daquis as it fashioned out a 30-28, 25-16, 22-25, 25-20 victory.
The Lady Falcons outlasted Lyceum in a thrilling five-setter in the second game, escaping with a 25-13, 17-25, 25-11, 24-26, 15-7 win.
Nene Bautista outhit Mary Jean Balse, 23-20, in a duel of former MVPs, while Michelle Laborte had 17 and Pau Soriano and Angela Benting shot 16 points apiece for Adamson, which kept their win run going after sweeping the quarterfinal phase.
Top hitter Jeng Bualee alternated for a setter role with Joy Benito in a superb all-around game by the Thai import, who spewed 26 kills to power San Sebastian to victory in the opener of their best-of-three semis series. Game 2 is slated on Sunday.
Elaine Cruz also stepped up to fire 11 hits, including 10 attacks, while Suzanne Roces also tossed in 11 points for the Recto-based squad, which neutralized the Lady Tamaraws’ solid offensive game even without Daquis.
Benito added nine hits as she combined with Bualee in setting up the team’s offensive patterns after Belen, the team’s lone setter, was rushed to the hospital due to abdominal pain. Daquis, on the other hand, sprained her ankle during FEU’s training.
Without Belen, the Lady Stags struggled to get their game going, needing to come up with a big finishing kick to hold off the Lady Tamaraws in an extended first-set duel.
They settled down in the second which they won convincingly only to falter in the third as FEU fought back to foil their rivals’ sweep bid. But San Sebastian used their experience and showed endgame poise in the fourth frame to score the win.
The Lady Stags repeat over the Lady Tamarawss, whom they swept in the elims and the quarterfinal rounds of the season-ending conference sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.
It was a sorry loss for FEU, which sorely missed the services of Daquis. Four Lady Tamaraws scored in double figures with Monique Tiangco taking over with 14 hits.
FEU guest player Michelle Carolino made 13 points while Cherry Vivas and Wenneth Eulalio turned in 11 and 10 hits, respectively.(TJ)
