AdU, Excelroof eye Final 4 slots

MANILA, Philippines - Streaking Adamson and San Sebastian-Excelroof try to formalize their stints in the semifinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference as they clash with Lyceum and Far Eastern U, respectively, at The Arena in San Juan today.

The Lady Falcons and the Stags pulled off a pair of four-set wins over the Tams and the NU Bulldogs, respectively, to remain tied at the helm at 7-2 with four playdates left in the single round quarterfinal phase of the season-ending conference sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Victories will send them straight to the Final Four and leave the battle for the two other berths wide open among Ateneo and Lyceum, tied for third at 5-3, and FEU, just half-a-game behind at 4-4.

NU is three games behind the joint third placers at 2-6 and will need a sweep of their last three games to gain a shot at the fourth and last semis berth in the tournament organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

Ateneo, meanwhile, tries to recover its bearing after dropping a sorry five-set decision to Lyceum the last time when the Lady Eagles took the first two sets but failed to close out.

They, however, are fancied to get back into the winning track again as they take on the Lady Bulldogs in the 2 p.m. opener of another triplebill that also features the SSC-FEU clash at 4 p.m. and the Adamson-Lyceum duel at 6 p.m.

To sustain its run, Adamson, which dealt SSC’s only two losses, will have to neutralize Mary Jean Balse, who fired a personal-best 37 hits in powering Lyceum past Ateneo.

The Adamson-Lyceum clash will also feature two of the league’s former MVPs with Nerissa Bautista tipped to spearhead the Lady Falcons’ bid against the surging Lady Pirates, who will also rely on Dahlia Cruz, Joy Cases, Jamie Peña, Ann Tabafunda and Marie Casanova.

Bautista, who ranks behind Balse and SSC’s Jeng Bualee in the scoring race, hopes to draw support from the power-hitting Angela Benting, Pau Soriano and Michelle Laborte along with Sheena Martin, Ma. Lourdes Patilano and Sheila Pineda.

Bualee, on the other hand, will head SSC’s bid against FEU with support to come from Suzanne Roces, Dafna Robiños, Elaine Cruz, Melissa Mirasol and Jennely Belen while the Tams will pin their hopes on Rachel Daquis, Michelle Carolino, Cherry Vivas, Monique Tiangco and Wenneth Eulalio.