Pinoy Spikers (Philippine Spike)

NATIONAL University rebounded from a stunning opening day loss to University of Perpetual Help System Dalta with a 20-25, 25-10, 25-21, 25-23 victory over College of Saint Benilde Thursday in the Shakey’s V-League first conference at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

LYCEUM bucked a sluggish opening set to outlast reigning CESAFI champion Southwestern University, 21-25, 27-25, 25-16, 25-15, for a winning start in the Shakey’s V-League first conference Tuesday night at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

In the first match, former national youth standout Patty Orendain unloaded 22 hits as Bacolod’s University of St. La Salle nipped sister team College of Saint Benilde, 25-21, 25-27, 18-25, 25-17, 15-11.

Joy Cases uncorked all of her 20 hits from attacks, while reinforcements Mary Jean Balse and Dahlia Cruz chipped in 19 and 12 points, respectively, for the Lady Pirates, who are dominating the WNCAA scene for more than a decade.

“Wala pa sa kondisyon masyado yung dalawang guest players namin.  I hope makabawi sila sa Sunday game namin sa Ateneo, 50-50 ang chance namin na manalo,” said long-time Lyceum mentor Emil Lontoc. Read the rest of this entry »

UNIVERSITY of St. La Salle, playing with no pressure at all, will go back home to Bacolod with a win.

The Lady Stingers foiled semifinalist Lyceum bid for the Group I top seed with a surprising 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 win in the Shakey’s V-League first conference quarterfinals Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

USLS, which also scored an elimination round victory against Far Eastern University, finished its quarters campaign with an 1-2 mark.

By settling to a 2-1 record, the Lady Pirates’ campaign to seize the No. 1 ranking in Group I in the event sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and backed by PLDT myDSL is now hanging in the balance.

Lyceum will tie either Adamson and San Sebastian College for the top spot when the two teams meet in a ‘do or die’ duel for the last semifinals berth on May 13.

Ties regarding on the Group I top seed will be broken thru point ratio system. In the semifinal, the Group I topnotcher will meet the second-ranked team of Group II in a best-of-three series, while the Group I’s No. 2 and the Group II top seed will face off in the other ‘Final Four’pairing.

Alumna Michelle Laborte finished with 16 hits while Patty Orendain and guest player Princess Pido added 12 and 11 points, respectively,for the Lady Stingers. Playing like there’s no tomorrow, USLS mentor Roger Banzuela was visibly happy on the way her wards play in their final game of the tournament organized by Sports Vision and supported by Accel, Mikasa and Mighty Bond.

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