NCAA volleyball: Arellano shuts down San Beda, earns semis berth

In a matchup of erstwhile perfect teams, it was the defending champion that left unscathed.

Arellano University showed its championship pedigree and handed San Beda a humiliating sweep, 25-17, 25-10, 25-17, in the NCAA Season 93 women’s volleyball tournament Friday at Filoil Flying V Centre.

The Lady Chiefs are now the only undefeated team in the league with a 7-0 record, which earned them an automatic spot in the semifinals, while the Lady Red Spikers dropped to 6-1.

After dismantling San Beda in the second set, the Lady Chiefs continued their offensive charge in the third set and built a 17-7 lead.

Although San Beda cut the lead to 21-17 late in the period after Jovielyn Prado’s service error, the Lady Red Spikers ultimately faltered in the end game.

Mary Anne Esguerra gave Arellano a 22-17 lead with a quick hit down the middle then San Beda committed two straight errors, the last one being Cesca Raqraquin’s wide hit that awarded the Lady Chiefs the win.

“This team was really motivated to beat San Beda because this was a really important game for us because this game will determine who can get the sweep,” said Arellano head coach Obet Javier in Filipino.

“We never had a chance to get the sweep in the eliminations, and after this we just have to practice harder because we only have two games left.”

Prado lit up for the Lady Chiefs with a game-high 17 points while Regine Arocha added 11.

And if Arellano had their chief contributors hitting double digits, San Beda had the opposite.

Raqraquin and Nieza Viray, who were respectively averaging 17.5 points and 15.5 points per game, were limited to six points apiece.

Adding to San Beda’s offensive struggles were its horrendous errors after the Lady Red Spikers gave 31 free points to the Lady Chiefs, six more than what they scored in spikes.