MANILA, Philippines — Three games into its Shakey’s V-League campaign, Arellano University is making heads turn and surprising even its own coach.
The Lady Chiefs sustained their fiery form, walloping the St. Benilde Lady Blazers, 25-19, 25-17, 25-16 Thursday for their third straight victory in Group A at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
“To tell you honestly, we didn’t expect to start the league with three straight wins although I’m really impressed with how my players are playing,” admitted Arellano U mentor Roberto Javier.
Five days after bringing down UAAP champion Ateneo, the Lady Chiefs proved ferocious anew with Danna Henson and substitute Jovielyn Prado spearheading the attack against a St. Benilde squad that couldn’t seem to get its attack going.
The duo combined for 25 points as the Lady Chiefs, runners-up in the recent NCAA wars, peppered the Lady Blazers with 42 hits, 18 more than the St. Benilde.
In the first game, Adamson encountered token resistance as it scored a second straight victory at the expense of Southwestern U, 25-12, 25-14, 25-16.
The win pushed the Lady Falcons to second in Group A with a 2-1 card, while the Lady Cobras fell to a third straight loss for a 1-3 slate. Mylene Paat powered home 10 hits for the Lady Falcons, who got a combined 15 points from Patcharee Sangmuang and Shiela Pineda.
“The key was we played our first ball well and turned it to scoring opportunities for us,” said Adamson coach Sherwin Meneses.
The Lady Falcons missed the services of Pau Soriano who excused herself from the game to attend the school’s recognition rites.
Still, Adamson had more than enough firepower to put away the Cebu-based squad, whose best scorer was Marlyn Llagoso with just six points.
The Lady Falcons also got a solid performance from May Macatuno who delivered 15 excellent sets.
Prado rose to the occasion after starter Menchie Tubiera struggled with her form.
“She’s a blessing to our team, I’m surprised with how she’s responding to the challenge,” Javier said of Prado.
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