Lyceum exits with pride, humbles Adamson

Lyceum foiled Adamson’s bid to bring that winning feeling to its anticipated showdown with San Sebastian for the second finals berth as it pulled off a thrilling 14-25, 32-30, 25-23, 18-25, 15-10 victory yesterday in the penultimate playdate of the semifinal round of the V-League presented by Shakey’s at the Blue Eagle gym.

Already out of the championship race, the Lyceum tossers fought like they were still in hunt, putting to naught Cherry Macatangay’s 33-point performance with a steady game in the deciding set and closing out their stint on an inspiring note.

Lyceum wound up with an 8-7 card and will fight for third place against the loser of the looming Adamson-SSC duel for the second finals slot.

Ma. Concepcion Legaspi, the third best scorer in the league presented by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision, played true to form and came away with 29 points and drew solid support from Beverly Boto, Dahlia Cruz and Sherrilyn Carrillo, who had 12, 11 and 10, respectively.

Macatangay, the league’s leading scorer with an aggregate of 343 points, scored 33 points but the Lady Falcons failed to thwart the stubborn Lyceum side in the fifth set and took their fifth loss against nine wins.

Adamson, which also drew 22 and 10 points from Kristine Ann Dave and Rubie de Leon, respectively, remained in second behind first finalist La Salle but might have lost the momentum it needs if it gets to play San Sebastian in a knockout duel for the right to challenge the Lady Archers for the crown. To force a playoff, however, the Lady Stags must prevail over the FEU spikers in the final semis playdate tomorrow.

With four wins in the semis, SSC needs to hurdle FEU to avail itself of the league’s 5-of-8 incentive for a crack at the second championship berth. A loss, however, will set the stage for the best-of-three title clash between La Salle and Adamson.

Meanwhile, La Salle arrested a back-to-back losing skid after sweeping its first 11 games as it trounced FEU, 25-20, 26-24, 25-16, in the second game.