Ateneo roars to 3rd win; UST, UP nip V-League foes

CARMELA Tunay of UST goes for a kill off St. Benilde’s Jannine Navarro and Ranya Musa in yesterday’s game at Filoil Flying V Arena. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

A mighty Ateneo squad found little problem hurdling De La Salle-Dasmariñas, 25-13, 25-19, 25-22, Sunday to grab the solo Group B lead with a perfect 3-0 card in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Collegiate Conference at Filoil Flying V Arena.

Alyssa Valdez spearheaded the dominant showing of the UAAP champion Lady Eagles with a 22-point effort built on 15 attacks, six aces and one block.

University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines needed to outlast steely opponents to climb to a share of second place in their respective groups.

Dragged to a decider, the Tigresses came out relentless in the fifth set to take the fire out of St. Benilde in a gruelling 25-12, 27-25, 25-21, 26-28, 15-7 victory.

The Lady Maroons likewise needed a strong finish to post a 24-26, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 decision over newcomer University of Batangas.

“After we dropped the first set, coach (Jerry Yee) told us to relax,” said Isabel Molde, who starred for the Lady Maroons with a game-high 21 points. “We were a bit tight.”

The Tigresses, who had five players, led by Carmela Tunay, finishing in double digits, dealt the Lady Blazers’ first loss to tie their victim at second with a 2-1 record in Group B.

Also climbing to 2-1, the Lady Maroons forged a three-way tie for second place with idle National University and Arellano in Group A.

Tunay and Jessey de Leon teamed up for 29 points as the Tigresses staged a fiery 7-1 windup to cap a dominant fifth set after the Lady Blazers had impressively pulled through in an extended fourth frame, 28-26.

Pam Lastimosa, EJ Laure and Marivic Meneses also dished out 12 points each to help the Tigresses spoil the Lady Blazers’ bid to stay on top with Ateneo.