Lady Pirates crush Tams, gain playoff

MANILA, Philippines - Lyceum fended off Far Eastern U in a tough second set duel then hung tough in the third to fashion out a 25-18, 27-25, 25-21 victory and assure itself of a playoff for the last Final Four berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan last Sunday.

The Lady Pirates drew another pair of solid games from their guest players as Mary Jean Balse unloaded 24 hits and Dahlia Cruz provided the needed backup of 15 points as the Muralla-based squad stayed on course of its first-ever title bid in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

The victory was Lyceum’s sixth against five losses as it tied Ateneo in third heading into the last quarterfinal playdate where it will face ousted National U on Thursday.

FEU dropped to 5-6, turning its final match against Ateneo a battle for the last semifinal berth in the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

San Sebastian-Excelroof turned back Ateneo, 25-19, 25-17, 27-25, also last Sunday to finish with a 10-2 slate in a tie with two-time tormentor Adamson, which also won over NU, 25-20, 25-14, 25-20. But the Lady Stags beat the Lady Falcons in the tiebreak to clinch the top spot in the semis.

SSC wound up with a ratio of 1.309 as against Adamson’s 1.124. Balse, a former league MVP, fired 20 kills while Cruz had 14 as the duo presided over Lyceum’s attack in the 1:16-hour encounter. Joy Cases had eight points while Marie Casanova came up with three blocks and finished with seven points for the Pirates, who also drew four hits apiece from Jamie Peña and Ann Tabafunda.

Cherry Vivas and Michelle Carolino took over for FEU but Rachel Ann Daquis was held to just nine points by the tough Lyceum net defense. Monique Tiangco had eight while Wenneth Eulalio added five and Gyzelle Sy made four points for the Pirates, who must now beat the Lady Eagles to advance.

SSC will face the No. 4 team while Adamson will take on the No. 3 squad in a pair of best-of-three semifinal matches starting Sept. 9.