Lady Stags trounce Tams, near finals

MANILA, Philippines - San Sebastian-Excelroof bucked the sidelining of setter Jennelyn Belen and pounced on the absence of Far Eastern U’s top hitter Rachel Anne Daquis as it fashioned out a 30-28, 25-16, 22-25, 25-20 victory to move closer to the championship of the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Top hitter Jeng Bualee alternated for a setter role with Analyn Joy Benito in a superb all-around game by the Thai import, who spewed 26 kills to power the Lady Stags to the victory in the opener of their best-of-three semis series.

Elaine Cruz also stepped up to fire 11 hits, including 10 attacks, while Suzanne Roces also tossed in 11 points for the Recoletos-based squad, which neutralized FEU’s solid offensive game even without Daquis.

Benito added nine hits as she combined with Bualee in setting up the team’s offensive patterns after Belen, the team’s lone setter, was rushed to the hospital.

Daquis, on the other hand, sprained her ankle during training.

Adamson outlasted Lyceum in a thrilling five-setter in the second game, escaping with a 25-13, 17-25, 25-11, 24-26, 15-7 victory to likewise seize a 1-0 lead in their own side of the Final Four of the season-ending conference sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Nerissa Bautista outhit Mary Jean Balse, 23-20, in a duel of former MVPs, while Michelle Laborte had 17 and Pau Soriano and Angela Benting shot 16 points apiece for the Lady Falcons, who thus kept their win run going after sweeping the quarterfinal phase.

Dahlia Cruz added 19 hits and Joy Cases made 17 points for the Lady Pirates, who refused to give after getting clobbered in the third set and pulled off a squeaker of a win in the fourth to send the match into the deciding fifth set.

But the Lady Falcons reasserted their might in the last frame and never gave their rivals room for another comeback as they pressed their bid for a crack at the second crown against the Lady Stags, whom they swept in the conference organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof.

Philippine Star