Arellano ousts UP, books Final 4 berth

Arellano’s Andrea Marzan scores on a hit against UP’s Marian Buitre during their duel for the second semifinal slot in Group B of the PVL Collegiate Conference.

Arellano U doused University of the Philippines’ grit and used a dominant fifth-set performance to hammer out a 22-25, 25-10, 25-19, 32-34, 15-3 decision to clinch the second semifinal berth in Group B of the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference in San Juan Saturday.

The Lady Chiefs racked up five straight points to start the decisive set and cooled whatever momentum the Lady Maroons built in an edge-of-your-seat fourth set to seal the win in an hour and 48 minutes.

UP, which stubbornly fought off elimination with that fourth-set win, lost their sting after ace hitter Justine Dorog left the game with a knee injury before the fifth set.

Arellano thus joined Adamson as Group B semifinalists after notching its fourth win in five games.

It was a sorry setback for the Diliman-based UP, which looked headed to the semifinals after that dramatic fourth-set win. The Lady Maroons closed out their campaign with a 3-2 mark.

Jovielyn Prado led Arellano with 26 hits.

In the other match, College of Saint Benilde finally notched a win, shaking off a slow start and beating Technological Insitute of the Philippines, 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22, to finish with a 1-4 card.

The Lady Engineers closed out with a 0-5 slate.