Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
San Beda brushed off a two-set disadvantage and raced back to deny Lyceum an upset victory, 22-25, 19-25, 25-11, 25-17, 15-7, in the NCAA Season 93 women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Lady Red Spikers improved to 6-0 to tie defending champion Arellano University at first place while sending the Lady Pirates to a miserable 1-5 card.
San Beda cranked up the tenacity in the fifth set, scoring on six unanswered points to take an 11-5 lead after Nieza Viray scored off the Lady Pirates’ blockade.
The Lady Red Spikers got into the 14-7 match point after Lyceum captain Bien Juanillo’s attempt went long before Cesca Raqraquin finished it off with a well-placed kill.
San Beda head coach Nemesio Gavino admitted his team looked sluggish in the first two sets but a reality check allowed them to stop Lyceum’s onslaught.
“First off we fixed whatever we did on the floor because we really looked slow, and we had to be aggressive,” said Gavino in Filipino. “We have to play this out and not rely on our opponent’s errors to score.”
“There wasn’t much adjusting when it came to skills, because I already know what they are capable of, they just had to wake up after the first two sets.”
Raqraquin led San Beda with a game-high 26 points while Viray added 13.
Monica Sevilla had 13 points to lead Lyceum while Christine Miralles and Juanillo pitched in 11 and 10 points, respectively.