Stags to keep focus against Falcons unrelenting defense

MANILA, Philippines – San Sebastian-Excelroof coach Roger Gorayeb said the key to their title aspirations is consistency. For Adamson mentor Dulce Pante, its defense.

“If we could play consistently aggressive and continue to stay focused from start to finish, we have a strong chance of winning a championship again,” said Gorayeb, after steering the Lady Stags to a four-set win Sunday that forced a winner-take-all match for the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference crown.

The Lady Falcons, on the other hand, vowed to stick on their defense, which anchored their impressive run in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza, including a sweep of the quarters and their three matches with the Stags.

“Our main strength is our defense. If we could find a way to impede their attacking game, we’ll have a chance,” said Pante, who like her counterpart is a veteran, multi-titled volley coach.

Both coaches are also expected to come up with adjustments heading to the rubber match set at 4 p.m. tomorrow with odds just about even between two teams with contrasting styles.

After three failed bids against the Falcons, the Lady Stags finally won in a game they could not afford to lose, unleashing a furious attack to carve out a 24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20 victory in Game Two of their best-of-three series at The Arena in San Juan City.

Thai import Jeng Bualee turned in a 27-hit performance, including 26 on kills that pierced through Adamson’s net and floor defense. Analyn Joy Benito, guest player Suzanne Roces and Elaine Cruz provided added firepower, scoring 19, 13 and 11 hits, respectively.

The Lady Falcons collectively tried to slow down the power-hitting Bualee and the rest of the Lady Stags but failed to sustain their first-set win the way they did in Game One when they shackled the Stags with a rock-solid net defense and superb court coverage to eke out a 25-13, 25-17, 30-32, 21-25, 15-13 win.

Guest player Nerissa Bautista, Paulina Soriano and Michelle Laborte tried to make things happen for the Lady Falcons but their combined 49-hit output proved short against a determined SSC side.

“We have to play defense while making sure our attacking game also works,” said Pante.

Focus will also be on the top players in the conference backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof and organized by Sports Vision, including Roces, who bagged the coveted MVP award, along with Bualee (best scorer), Soriano (best blocker) and Adamson’s Angelica Vasquez (best digger) and Angela Benting (best receiver).

Other awardees were Lyceum’s Mary Jean Balse (best attacker), Rachel Anne Daquis of FEU (best server) and Ann Tabafunda of Lyceum (best setter) with the conference’s MVP to be named after the sudden death.

Philippine Star