Pirates eye No. 1 vs Stingers

MANILA, Philippines - Lyceum tries to seal the No. 1 spot in Group I as it battles ousted University of St. La Salle, eyeing no less than a victory for a sweep of the quarterfinal round in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan today.

The Lady Pirates clinched their first Final Four stint in two years by upending the San Sebastian Lady Stags in five sets last Sunday.

With Adamson bouncing back with a 25-16, 25-17, 25-19 victory over USLS the other day, the Lady Falcons and the Stags, tied at 1-1, dispute the other semis berth in Group I next week.

“We’ll go all out for a win to get the better ranking in the semis. We have to gain confidence since it’s getting tougher,” said Lyceum coach Emil Lontoc in Filipino.

The Lady Pirates are fancied to get past the Lady Stingers in their 2 p.m. encounter.

St. Benilde and Southwestern U, meanwhile, close out their quarters campaign in the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and presented by PLDT MyDSL as they slug it out in the 4 p.m. game in Group II.

A victory by Lyceum will net the Lady Pirates the No. 1 seeding in the crossover semis and will play the No. 2 team in the other group.

UST and Ateneo, with 2-0 slates, dispute the No. 1 spot at the close of the quarters on May 13.

The league, organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Mighty Bond, will take a one-week break to give way to the national elections.

Thai reinforcement Tip Santrong, Dalhia Cruz, Joy Cases and Nica Guliman are again expected to lead the Lady Pirates against the Lady Stingers.