By Abby Toralba
LYCEUM of the Philippines eliminated Arellano University in the stepladder semifinals of the 99th NCAA women’s volleyball tournament yesterday, scoring a 25-17, 24-26, 25-20, 25-19 win at The Arena in San Juan.
Seeded third, the Lady Pirates got big games from veteran Jaja Tulang who had 23 points, 11 digs and eight excellent receptions while open spiker Johna Dolorito had 17 markers and eight excellent receptions in the over two-hour duel.
The win sent the Intramuros-based crew to a knockout duel with second-ranked Letran this Wednesday at the same venue.
The winner of that duel will claim the last finals berth and will battle three-peat-seeking College of St. Benilde, which swept the elimination round in nine outings, in a best-of-three series starting Sunday.
Middle blocker Heart Bio and open hitter Joan Doguna had a combined 15 points while skipper Venice Puzon tossed in 23 excellent sets for the Lady Pirates.
“Sabi ko nga from the start, one game at a time lang kami. Iyong losing streak namin na tatlo (at the end of the eliminations) parang hindi na rin namin siya kinonsider kasi going to the stepladder sabi ko reset na ulit tayo, back to, zero-zero na talaga,” coach Cromwel Garcia said.
“Doon lumabas iyong maturity, na parang mas lalo silang naging eager na trabahuhin iyong mga bagay na pagkukulang nung mga past games naming,” Garcia added.
In the fourth set, Arellano closed the gap to 15-17 but the Lady Pirates remained composed and took a 21-16 lead.
With Lyceum leading 24-17, Arellano went on a 3-0 run but an unforced service error by Harem Ceballos ended the match.
Fhaye Mangubat and Pauline De Guzman led Arellano with 13 and 12 points while Laika Tudlasan delivered 10 markers in their final match of the season.
Arellano has outgoing players in Dodee Batindaan, Donnalyn Paralejas, Robbie Matawarin, Charmaine Dino and Lorraine Pecana.
