Lady Eagles boost q’finals bid

THAI import Boonyuen Surasawadee unloaded 23 points as Ateneo survived a gritty Lyceum side, 25-10, 17-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-12, to boost its bid for a quarterfinals berth in the Shakey’s V-League second conference Sunday night at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Eagles banked on the heroics on Surasawadee and team captain Jem Ferrer to cool down a searing Lady Pirates rally in the fifth frame and score the hard-earned five-set victory.

Ateneo improved to 3-1 mark to strengthen its campaign for a slot in the next round of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and supported by Accel, Mikasa at Excelroof.

Lyceum fell to fourth spot with a 3-3 behind third-running Far Eastern University (3-2).

After a poor opening set, the Lady Pirates rallied in the next two behind guest players Mary Jean Balse and Dahlia Cruz.

But Ateneo bounced back in the fourth set with its effective blocking to send the game into a decider.

“Lagi naman naming iniisip na lalaban yung kalaban kaya lang hindi siguro yung ganito kadikit. Kung first set yung titignan, parang hindi (dikit yung laban),” said Lady Eagles coach Clint Malazo.

“Nawala yung blocking namin. Kasi yung pinaka first-line of defense namin. Kapag yun yung nawala mahihirapan na kami dumipensa talaga,” he added.

Dzi Gervacio and Kara Acevedo also delivered for Ateneo, scoring 10 points apiece.

Guest player Alyssa Valdez, Bea Pascual and Gretchen Ho combined for 15 points for the Lady Eagles, who placed third last conference.

Balse finished with 27 points while Cruz chipped in 20 hits for Lyceum.

Ateneo’s next opponent is also-ran College of Saint Benilde on Thursday. (TJ)