The San Sebastian College-Recolletos Lady Stags and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Lady Blazers formalized their entry into the Final Four after their convincing wins over the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lady Knights and the Emilio Aguinaldo College Lady Generals, respectively, in NCAA women’s volleyball action, Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Center, San Juan City.
Last year’s runners-up, the Lady Stags demolished the Lady Knights in straight sets, 25-11 25-17 25-15, to clinch their seventh straight win of the season. It was an all-around effort for San Sebastian, who got at least a point from all but one of their players. Team Captain Gretchel Soltones led the huge offensive effort with 13 of the 38 attacks from the Lady Stags.
San Sebastian loaded up their serves and peppered Letran with 6 service aces, 2 coming from Dangie Encarnacion. Middle hitter Joyce Sta. Rita had 9 markers, 2 of them from blocks, to lead the support cast for the Lady Stags. Mikaela Lopez carried the fight for the Lady Knights with 6 points.
After the game, Lady Stags Head Coach Roger Gorayeb expressed his delight that the efforts of his girls are paying off. Despite the winning streak, Gorayeb stated that this is far from over. “Malayo pa, may two games pa. Ang gusto naman ng mga coaches ay mag-Finals. Pag nag-Finals kami, eh ‘di maraming salamat,” he said.
The scores:
SSC-R (3) – Soltones 13, Sta. Rita 9, Villegas 8, Encarnacion 8, Dalisay 4, Lim 2, Crisostomo 1, Corpuz 1, Labiano 1, Amponin 0, Eroa (L), Cruz (L)
CSJL (0) – Lopez 6, Cabrera 5, Caberto 4, Carreon 2, Bangcola 2, Molina 1, Abitan 0, Urizza 0, Laserna (L), Angeles (L)
In the second women’s game, the Lady Blazers turned back a tight third-set loss to close out the tricky Lady Generals, 25-15 25-12 18-25 25-20, to take their sixth victory of the season. CSB easily took the first two sets after they overpowered EAC with most of their 50 attacks in these frames. Errors, however, piled up for the Blazers in the third set and allowed EAC to snatch the win.
Janinne Navarro fired four of her 16 attacks in the tail end of the fourth to finally take the win for the Lady Blazers and secure their entry into the Final Four. Navarro also had 4 blocks to round up with 20 markers. Jeanette Panaga followed with 16 markers to lead three others in double figures. Yna Pagdanganan had a monster game with 21 points for the Generals, 14 coming from attacks.
The scores:
CSB (3) – Navarro 20, Panaga 16, Daguil 12, Santillan 11, Austero 6, Cheng 4, Musa 1, Umali 0, Borrero 0, Dolorito 0, Torres (L), Lim (L)
EAC (1) – Pagdanganan 21, Danao 8, Reyes 6, Tongco 4, Santos 4, De Jesus 2, Chan 0, Lumbo 0, Suarez 0, Medina (L), Castillo (L)
