Ateneo roars to 3rd win; UST, UP nip V-League foes
CARMELA Tunay of UST goes for a kill off St. Benilde’s Jannine Navarro and Ranya Musa in yesterday’s game at Filoil Flying V Arena. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
A mighty Ateneo squad found little problem hurdling De La Salle-Dasmariñas, 25-13, 25-19, 25-22, Sunday to grab the solo Group B lead with a perfect 3-0 card in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Collegiate Conference at Filoil Flying V Arena.
Alyssa Valdez spearheaded the dominant showing of the UAAP champion Lady Eagles with a 22-point effort built on 15 attacks, six aces and one block.
Article continues after this advertisementUniversity of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines needed to outlast steely opponents to climb to a share of second place in their respective groups.
Dragged to a decider, the Tigresses came out relentless in the fifth set to take the fire out of St. Benilde in a gruelling 25-12, 27-25, 25-21, 26-28, 15-7 victory.
The Lady Maroons likewise needed a strong finish to post a 24-26, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 decision over newcomer University of Batangas.
Article continues after this advertisement“After we dropped the first set, coach (Jerry Yee) told us to relax,” said Isabel Molde, who starred for the Lady Maroons with a game-high 21 points. “We were a bit tight.”
The Tigresses, who had five players, led by Carmela Tunay, finishing in double digits, dealt the Lady Blazers’ first loss to tie their victim at second with a 2-1 record in Group B.
Also climbing to 2-1, the Lady Maroons forged a three-way tie for second place with idle National University and Arellano in Group A.
Tunay and Jessey de Leon teamed up for 29 points as the Tigresses staged a fiery 7-1 windup to cap a dominant fifth set after the Lady Blazers had impressively pulled through in an extended fourth frame, 28-26.
Pam Lastimosa, EJ Laure and Marivic Meneses also dished out 12 points each to help the Tigresses spoil the Lady Blazers’ bid to stay on top with Ateneo.