Ateneo boosts V-League quarters bid

Ateneo pounced on the erratic plays of Lyceum in the deciding set to hack out a 25-10, 17-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-12 decision and gain at least a playoff for the third quarterfinals berth in the 7th Shakey's V-League Sunday at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Pirates fell into a spate of errors, including a smash by Mary Jean Balse that went wide, thus giving the Lady Eagles to complete their big comeback from a 2-1 set down and notch their third win in four starts.

The match actually turned into a showdown of guest players as Balse, a two-time MVP winner, scored a conference-tying 27 hits while Ateneo Thai import Surasawadee Boonyuen held her own ground with 23 points, including 19 kills that went with four aces.

Faulty execution, however, did the Lady Pirates in as they committed 29 errors against only 19 for the Lady Eagles.1

Ateneo could formalize its entry in the quarters with a victory against College of St. Benilde on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the same venue.

San Sebastian-Excelroof and Adamson University took the first two quarter seats with straight-set victories over National University and St. Benilde also last Sunday with the SSC belles regaining the solo lead at 5-1 and the Lady Falcons moving up to second with a 4-2 slate.

Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin