INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Feeling the impact of the loss of five players, San Sebastian College was forced to toil for its first victory in the Shakey?s V League Season 6 second conference.

In a game marked by long rallies because of the teams? inability to consistently come up with strong attacks, the San Sebastian volleybelles overcame the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, 24-26, 25-22, 28-26, 25-12, Tuesday night to open their title-retention bid on a winning note at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb was a picture of relief after the match that lasted one hour and 55 minutes.

?We will be lucky if we make it to the quarterfinals judging from the way we played today,? said Gorayeb. ?We really struggled. Our errors are bothering us.?

Gorayeb noted the absence of Lou Ann Latigay, Charisse Ancheta, MJ Pepito, Suzanne Roces and Sasa Devanadera greatly hurt their chances of repeating their feat last year when they beat University of Santo Tomas in the finals.

The Lady Stags got off flat, offering little resistance in yielding the first set. But they got their rhythm in the second with NCAA MVP Joy Benito, the only remnant of Gorayeb?s starting six last year, making her mark in the game.

The Lady Maroons zoomed to an 11-6 lead in the third set and was up 21-18, before Benito struck. UP lost two set points at 24-23 and at 25-24, and Benito struck back-to-back hits to seal the set.

With the Lady Maroons still reeling from their third set meltdown, the Lady Stags were quick to pounce on the opportunity with Margarita Pepito and Benito combining to give San Sebastian a 17-6 advantage.

Benito and Pepito finished with 21 hits each, while Elaine Cruz added 17 points. Melissa Mirasol and alumna guest player Jinni Mondejar tossed in nine and eight hits, respectively.

Carmela Lopez paced UP with 14 points and Cathy Barcelon added 12 points for the Lady Maroons, who absorbed their fifth straight loss.