San Sebastian College-Recoletos banked once again on Kath Santos as it denied San Beda University with a 25-21, 23-25, 30-32, 25-23, 15-13 to boost its own Final Four bid in the NCAA Season 97 women's volleyball on Tuesday.
San Sebastian improved to 5-2 to bounce back from a sweep loss to College of Saint Benilde last Sunday while San Beda sank to 2-5.
Santos tried to single-handedly lift San Sebastian in the fifth, serving up an ace for a 10-all score but it was another rookie in KJ Dionisio who put up the finishing kick. Dionisio scored the last three points of the Lady Stags en route to their fourth five-set victory in the season.
Santos put up monster numbers anew, finishing with 24 points anchored on 22 attacks and two service aces while Dionisio registered 11 markers to steer the Lady Stags.
With the two teams flaunting one set each, they saw a tight affair in the third with San Beda clinching seven set points, 31-30, before an error from San Sebastian gave San Beda the set, 32-30.
During that extended set, Santos starred as San Sebastian converted more attacks, 14 to 13, but San Beda took three blocks and the same number of aces to push the Lady Stags on the brink.
San Sebastian then came back from a 16-11 deficit as the Lady Stags tied the match at 22 off an ace by setter Vea Sison. Santos went down the line before San Beda's error forced a fifth set, 25-23.
Apart from Santos and Dionisio, also pivotal for San Sebastian was Reyann Cañete who poured in 10 points to go along with 12 digs and 12 excellent receptions while Tina Marasigan chipped in 13 markers.
Three San Beda players were in double digit with Marianne Louise Tayag collecting 15 points while Maxinne Joyce Tayag and Trisha Paras each finished with 14.
San Sebastian next tackles Lyceum of the Philippines University on Friday while San Beda will next face Jose Rizal University on Friday.
—JMB, GMA News
