Lady Stags book Shakey’s V-League semis slot
MANILA, Philippines—San Sebastian-Excelroof overpowered Far Eastern U, 25-22, 25-9, 25-17, Saturday to book a slot in the Final Four of the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan. The Lady Stags peppered their foes with 45 kills—27 from Jeng Bualee and Suzanne Roces combined—more than doubling the 24-spike effort of the Lady Tams. San Sebastian-Excelroof was at its meanest in the second set, where it held FEU to just nine points on the way to its eighth victory in 10 outings. The Lady Stags moved ahead of idle Adamson at 7-2 while dampening FEU’s semifinal bid in the season-ending conference. The Lady Tams stayed in fifth at 4-5, behind Lyceum (5-3). Bualee finished with 18 points while Roces had 10 as Elaine Cruz, Jennelyn Belen, Joy Benito and Melissa Mirasol combined for 24 hits for the Lady Stags. Rachel Anne Daquis was the lone bright spot for the Lady Tams with 11 points. The rest of the squad struggled, with Michelle Carolino coughing up a measly six points and Cherry Vivas groping for four hits. Earlier, Ateneo subdued stubborn National U, 25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 25-23, decision as it wheeled back into solo third in the quarterfinal round of the tournament organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof. The Lady Eagles fought back from 20-23 in the fourth set by unloading five straight points to seal the victory and prop their bid for a Final Four stint with their sixth win in nine games. NU dropped to 2-7 and needs things to go its way to nail a semifinal berth. The Lady Bulldogs need to sweep their last three games and hope that FEU and Lyceum post not more than five wins each to force a playoff for the last semifinal berth. Surasawadee Boonyuen powered Ateneo with 21 kills for 22 points, while Gretchen Ho and Fille Cainglet tossed in 12 and 11 points, respectively.