Lady Archers enter semis the hard way

It took La Salle a deciding set but the Lady Archers pulled through just the same, outlasting a gritty Far Eastern U side, 25-19, 23-25; 21-25; 25-18; 15-10, yesterday and advancing to the semifinal round of the Shakey’s V-League women’s volleyball tournament at the Lyceum gym yesterday.

San Sebastian College likewise encountered stiff resistance from a tough Letran squad but outscored its rival in the fourth set to come away with a 25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20 victory in the other contest to gain at least a playoff for the last semis berth in the event sponsored by Shakey’s.

La Salle thus joined unbeaten University of Santo Tomas (6-0) in the semis with a 5-1 (win-loss) mark while SSC, which evened its card to 3-3, assured itself of a crack at the last semis berth heading into the last three playdates of the event backed by Accel and Mikasa.

The losses both dropped Letran and FEU to 1-5 with both teams needing to sweep their last two games and hope that San Sebastian and Lyceum (2-4) lose theirs to force a playoff.

The SSC netters, who opened their bid here with back-to-back wins but lost their next three, wore down a hard-fighting Letran side in the fourth set as they imposed their will at the net and scored four unanswered points that clinched them the victory.

"Kailangan talaga naming manalo para tumaas uli ang morale ng mga bata," said SSC coach Rogelio Gorayeb, who also credited her wards’ great defense for the win.