ATENEO survived a tough Philippine Air Force challenge to hammer out a 25-23, 11-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-9 win and clinch the last semifinals berth in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference Thursday night at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Eagles took the victory with Fille Cainglet connected a service ace after Airwomen guest player Jennifer Manzano committed an attacking error.
A date with top seed Philippine Army awaits Ateneo in the start of their best-of-three semis series on Sunday.
In the other semifinals pairing, No. 2 San Sebastian College and third seed Philippine Navy collide.
Alyssa Valdez scored all of her 20 hits from attacks while Cainglet added 16 points for the Lady Eagles.
Ateneo drew big contributions from Dzi Gervacio, who had 14 points, Gretchen Ho with 11 points. Setter Jem Ferrer who scored four of her five hits from service aces, while libero Denden Lazaro had 30 digs.
Aiza Maizo fired 25 points, while last-minute guest player Joy Cases added 19 points for Air Force.
After firing a career-high 32 hits in their four-set win against the Lady Eagles last Tuesday, Manzano finished with 18 points.
With the victory, Ateneo, which is using the tournament as part of its preparation for the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament in November, is on track for a second straight title. (TJ)
