V-League: Arellano survives USC in five-setter; Ateneo rallies to drop San Sebastian

(Updated 7:57pm) The Arellano University Chiefs picked up their first win of the tournament, while in a clash of two collegiate league powerhouses, the Ateneo Lady Eagles shook off a bad start to overcome the San Sebastian College Lady Stags, in separate Shakey's V-League games, Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Arena. In the first game, Arellano emerged triumphant against the University of San Carlos Warriors after five tense sets, 25-19, 25-18, 18-25, 22-25, 15-8. Both teams had dropped their season-openers, and were looking to barge into the win column, but it was Arellano that started on fire. The Lady Chiefs racked up a quick 7-2 advantage with a big boost coming from guest player MJ Balse’s great service game and Nene Bautista's aggressive play. On the other hand, the Warriors seemed out of sync as they piled up numerous unforced errors, as they failed to get the ball over the net. The second set featured the same story, as Arellano continued to score efficiently through Bautista’s attacks, forging an 8-4 lead by the first technical time out. Danna Henson provided a spark to keep her squad in rhythm, and despite the great effort by Chona Gesulga of USC, the Warrior’s defense was not enough to stop the surging Lady Chiefs. Entering the third set down two sets to none, the Warriors decided to flip the script with an offensive barrage of their own. Suzette Panis and Gesulga led their team to an unexpected 15-8 lead in the third, while USC’s guest player Abigail Praca provided some wise on-court decision-making that caught the Arellano defense off guard. With the Warriors adjusting to the pace of the game, they took the third set. With the momentum and the crowd on their side, the USC Warriors started the fourth set with an 8-4 advantage. Methosheena Bate remained aggressive throughout as she challenged every single blocker that went against her. The Warriors were able to bubble their lead to seven at 18-11, but Arellano would reel off an 8-1 scoring run, led by Bautista and Elaine Sagun to tie the set at 19. Unforced errors by the Lady Chiefs and block-piercing spikes by the Warriors then resulted in a 2-2 tie. In the end though, Arellano was able to to stop the surging momentum of the Warriors, grabbing the fifth and final set to emerge victorious. Meanwhile, the second game of the day featured two of the more popular collegiate squads, the UAAP's Ateneo Lady Eagles and the NCAA's San Sebastian Lady Stags, with the UAAP runners-up improving to 2-0, via a 22-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-18 victory. The crowd was appropriately into every dig, set or spike, as both teams started the match with a back-and-forth affair. The two sides would exchange the lead seven times, and forge 14 deadlocks in the first set alone. Every Rachel Anne Daquis and Alyssa Valdez spike would be immediately matched with explosive attacks from guest players Su Roces and Jong Bualee, giving the liberos from both teams, Den Lazaro and Mae Crisostomo a large task at hand. The Lady Stags however would pull away late in the set with a couple of lucky bounces from the net and unforced errors from the Lady Eagles. San Sebastian won the first set with the score of 25-22. The second set served as the adjustment set for Ateneo, as they were able to let loose a quick 8-2 advantage care of Alyssa Valdez’s service game. With the composed setting of Jem Ferrer, Daquis, Valdez and Fille Cainglet were able to line up spikes that challenged the defense. With additional consistent performances coming from key players, Mae Tajima and Marge Tejada, the Lady Eagles equalized, taking set two. Valdez and Daquis continued their hard-hitting performances in the third set as they helped the Lady Eagles to an 8-4 lead by the first technical time out. Tejada continued scoring for the Lady Eagles while Amy Ahomiro came fresh from the bench to provide the necessary reinforcements in Ateneo’s blocking, resulting in another won set for them.   With the score against them at 1-2, the Lady Stags made sure that they would not go out without a fight, as they racked up a quick 8-3 start. However, the Valdez-Daquis hard-hitting tandem would prove to be too much for San Sebastian as their 10-4 scoring run gave the Lady Eagles the 13-12 lead. From that point, Valdez took over the match with a little help from Tajima and Ella De Jesus to win the game. - AMD, GMA News 

First game -
 USC top scorers: Panis 17, Gesulga 17, Praca 16, Bate 10, Aranas 5, Cortes 5. AU top scorers: Henson 17, Bautista 17, Balse 16, Oseri0 5, Sagun 4, Legacion 4, Salamagos 4, Ticar 2, Cawicaan 2, Calixto 1.  
 Second game - SSC top scorers: Bualee 20, Roces 11, Labiano 10, Mallare 6, Uy 5, Berbano 4, Crisostomo L. 1. ADMU top scorers: Valdez 25, Daquis 11, Cainglet 8, Tejada 8, Patnongon 5, Tajima 4, Ahomiro 3.