San Sebastian Lady Stags. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
San Sebastian crept into the third seed after cutting down Letran in straight sets, 25-9, 25-22, 25-18, of the NCAA Season 93 women’s volleyball tournament Thursday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Lady Stags had full control of the game, but the Lady Knights put up a semblance of a fight in the third set as Miracle Mendoza scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to 22-18.
Nikka Dalisay then scored two straight points for the Lady Stags 24-18 lead before Daurene Santos finished things off with an off-the-block kill.
The Lady Stags improved to 4-2 card, the same as University of Perpetual Help, but edged the Lady Altas to the third seed by virtue of a 14-11 lead in points.
Lady Stags head coach Roger Gorayeb, who has only been utilizing eight players, believes a Final 4 stint is still a possibility but he’s no longer focusing on the seeds as long as they get to the semifinals.
“The Final Four is still in the firing range,” said Gorayeb in Filipino. “At least I can already see the performance that I want from them, but we still have to work harder.”
“We just have to face the reality that we don’t have that many players, and that we just have to manage every thing and get to the Final Four.”
Joyce Sta. Rita led all scorers with 18 points while Dalisay and Santos added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Jaymeleene Parin and Kathleen Barrinuevo had six points apiece to lead the 2-4 Lady Knights.