University of Santo Tomas sealed the No. 2 spot in Group B even minus one of its cornerstones in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Collegiate Conference Sunday at Filoil Flying V Arena.
The Tigresses played without injured veteran Carmela Tunay but still overpowered the San Sebastian Lady Stags, 25-22, 25-15, 25-17, to wrap up their elimination run with a 4-1 record.
Pam Lastimosa and EJ Laure took charge with a combined 26 points and Chloe Cortez ably took over Tunay’s spot as opposite hitter to finish with 10 points for the Tigresses.
“Cortez delivered, which is good for the team,” said UST coach Emilio Reyes.
In the other match, University of Batangas bowed out in style as it rallied past Polytechnic University of the Philippines, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 28-26, for its first win in five games.
De La Salle-Dasmariñas sealed the last quarterfinal berth after outlasting St. Benilde in a gruelling five-setter, 25-19, 25-21, 15-25, 18-25, 16-14, in the nightcap.
CARLA Montenegro (7) of University of Batangas sets up an attack against Polytechnic University of the Philippines. The Lady Brahmans rallied to prevail. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Mariebeth Lara fired 17 points to lift the Lady Patriots, who tied their victims at 2-3 in Group B.
Krissa Madalogdog topscored with 18 and Cyren Montecener added 16 points for the Lady Brahmans, who had been eliminated along with the Lady Radicals.
Lastimosa fired all but one of her 14 points on attacks, where the Tigresses edged the Lady Stags, 35-29.
The Tigresses also routed their opponents on blocks, 11-3, and aces, 6-2, with Cortez at the forefront in both categories.
Tunay fractured her nose in the Tigresses’ last outing versus Technological Institute of the Philippines as she collided with Lastimosa in a reception scramble.
The Tigresses finished second to UAAP champion Ateneo, which completed a 5-0 sweep of Group B following a 25-16, 25-14, 25-13 rout of TIP on Saturday night.
Group A turned out to be a tighter race as three teams wound up with similar 4-1 records, but National University gained the No.1 spot due to a superior tiebreak score, followed by Far Eastern University and Arellano.