MANILA — Reigning champion National U drubbed Adamson, 25-13, 26-24, 25-20, and booked a finals return trip in the Shakey’ Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

The Lady Bulldogs erased a 22-24 deficit in the second set before banking on a hot start in the clincher to score yet another straight-sets victory and shore up their back-to-back championship bid.

It’s the seventh sweep in a row for the mighty NU squad that needed only 83 minutes to capture the win in the knockout semifinals with skipper Erin May Pangilinan and reigning MVP Alyssa Solomon spearheading the way.

NU will face off against either Far Eastern U or University of Santo Tomas – which were still playing as of press time – in the best-of-three finale of the SSL Season 2 backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.

Pangilinan fired 11 points on seven hits, two blocks and two aces, including a bevy of clutch hits in the pivotal second set while Solomon cashed in 10 points on seven attacks, two blocks and an ace.

Former UAAP Rookie-MVP Mhicaela Belen, Evangeline Alinsug and rookie Arah Ella Panique contributed nine, eight and seven points, respectively, for the wards of returning mentor Norman Miguel.

“We have to check first kung sino makakalaban namin. From there, doon na manggagaling lahat ng adjustments namin. But again, ganoon pa rin naman sa finals kung ano yung tinatrabaho namin,” said Miguel, mentioning passing, blocking and floor defense as areas of improvement for his wards moving forward.

“Going into the finals, dapat sabay-sabay ang kundisyon nila. Yun ang kailangan naming trabahuhin.”

NU, which wiped out Pool A in the prelims and Pool E in the playoffs before making short work of the University of the East in the quarterfinals, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23, picked up where it left off by pouring it down on Adamson with a dominant 25-13 first-set win.

In the second set, Lady Bulldogs nearly yielded their first set all-tournament long after staring at a 22-24 deficit off an Ayesha Juegos’ hit for the Lady Falcons only for Pangilinan to come to their rescue.

Pangilinan’s thunderous attack forced the deuce at 24-all followed by Panique’s soft touch and her block on Jimy Jean Jamili to cap a 4-0 finishing kick for a thrilling 26-24 win.

The lethal duo of Belen and Solomon then took over from there, anchoring a 10-6 start in the third set en route to a sweep.

Jamili, Ayesha Juego and Jen Villegas fired seven each for Adamson, which will duke it out against the loser between FEU and UST for the bronze medal of SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Meanwhile, in the classification phase, College of St. Benilde trounced Ateneo, 25-20, 19-25, 25-11, 25-11, to arrange a duel against UE for fifth place. Ateneo and Arellano will fight for No. 7.

All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partner.

(ai/mnm)

Games Sunday

(Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
11 a.m. – Ateneo vs UE/AU
2 p.m. – NU vs AdU
5 p.m. – FEU vs UST

MANILA — Vengeful University of Santo Tomas fended off College of St. Benilde, 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 32-30, in the thrilling knockout duel to catch the last bus in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 Final Four Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

The Golden Tigresses wasted a huge lead in the fourth set before recovering in time behind the heroics of Regina Jurado, Jonna Perdido, and Bianca Plaza for a sweet payback in the extended quarterfinals against the gritty Lady Blazers after a tough five-setter defeat in Game 1.

UST, with a win-once bonus as the No. 2 seed, thus marched on to arrange a semifinal battle against Far Eastern U for a seat in the championship of the SSL Season 2 backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.

Reigning champion National U, the only unbeaten team in the tourney, and Adamson is in the other pairing of the knockout Final Four today (Sunday) with the survivors advancing to the best-of-three finale starting on Friday.

Regina Jurado unloaded 16 points on 15 hits, an ace, and a block, including a bevy of clutch hits in the fourth set to show the way for UST to replicate a Final Four feat in the inaugural season.

Perdido and Angeline Poyos added 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Plaza made her presence felt down the wire with four points highlighted by the last two points for UST to win the extended duel, 32-30.

“We’re a young team against a veteran St. Benilde squad na two-time NCAA champion. Nakita nyo kung gaano sila ka-solid, ayaw talaga bumitaw. Nanalo kami sa disgrasya. Nadisgrasya namin sila sa huling palo kasi lahat ng set-up at attacks at combination play namin, nakapag-adjust sila,” said UST mentor Kungfu Reyes.

“Credits to St. Benilde. ‘Yun nga, we’re a young team and nahatak kami ng nahatak going into the semis. Malaking bagay sa amin ito lalo twice-to-beat kami, tapos twice beaten. ‘Yun sana ang branding namin.”

On the heels of a 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 11-15 loss in Game 1, UST imposed its will early by taking a commanding 2-0 lead only to cool down in the third set with a 25-19 defeat as two-time reigning NCAA champion St. Benilde proved its pedigree once again.

The Golden Tigresses moved on the verge of a quick 3-1 victory with a 24-21 lead in the fourth only to witness another Lady Blazers’ fightback to force a deuce and even snatch the driver’s seat at 27-26 off a Gayle Pascual hit.

Jurado and Perdido took turns neutralizing Rhea Mae Densing’s late hammers for a 30-all score before Plaza, who just subbed in the match for blocking purposes, uncorked two straight surprise attacks to lift UST to the hard-earned win.

Pascual and Densing fired 16 and 15 points, respectively, for St Benilde under the watch of coach Jerry Yee.

Meanwhile, Ateneo takes on St. Benilde in the other bracket of the classification matches with the University of the East and Arellano playing as of press time for the 5th-8th spots in the SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.

All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV, and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partners.

(AI/MNM)

Games on Saturday:

(Rizal Memorial Coliseum)

11 a.m. – NU vs AU

2 p.m. – CSB vs FEU

5 p.m. – UE vs AdU

Back-to-back NCAA champion College of St. Benilde rolled past the University of the East, 25-18, 25-21, 25-4, to kick off its playoff campaign with a bang in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The Lady Blazers needed only 68 minutes to pocket the easy win highlighted by a massive 21-demolition of the Lady Warriors in the third set to tie Adamson for the second spot with similar 3-1 cards in Pool F led by unbeaten Far Eastern U (4-0).

Cloanne Mondoñedo quarterbacked St. Benilde’s fine-tuned offense with 15 excellent sets as all players barged into the scoring column led by Zamantha Nolasco with 12 points.

Nolasco had nine hits, three blocks, and an ace while Jade Gentapa cashed in 11 points. Backstopping them was Gayle Pascual with eight points followed by five each from Michelle Gamit, Corrine Apostol, and Wielyn Estoque.

Jerry Yee, who’s serving as the newly-appointed mentor of UE, sat on St. Benilde’s bench while his deputy Dr. Obet Vital called the shots for the Lady Warriors in the battle between his two teams.

“Ang laking tulong samin nung nag-break ang Shakey’s since ang dami ring nagkasakit samin at kailangang mag-recover. Happy kami since ‘nung last game sa elims na nag-fifth set. Ginusto namin at magtra-trabaho kami hanggang dulo,” said Mondoñedo.

In the SSL National Invitationals, St. Benilde absorbed an early exit in the quarterfinals but is poised for a deep run this time in the SSL Season 2 by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.

Ranged against a vastly improved UE side, the Lady Blazers made it look so easy behind the defensive dominance of Nolasco, who patrolled the net with towering blocks after one another.

Her swat anchored St. Benilde’s 17-11 rally in the first set from a close duel heading home followed by another clinching block late in the second set, where the team unleashed a 3-0 closeout from a narrow 22-21 cushion.

It was all Lady Blazers from there on, allowing only four points in a magnificent volleyball masterclass.

Rookie Casiey Dongallo fired eight points to serve as the only bright spot for the Lady Warriors, who slid to 2-2.

Meanwhile, on Saturday night, reigning champion National U tamed the University of Santo Tomas to stay undefeated as Arellano pulled the rug from under Ateneo, both in straight sets in Pool E.

The Lady Bulldogs swept the Golden Tigresses, 25-21, 25-18, 25-21, in the battle of unbeaten teams to claim a solo lead in Pool E with a 4-0 record.

The Golden Tigresses slid to 3-1, tied with the Lady Chiefs following their gigantic 25-21, 25-18, 25-21 upset of the Blue Eagles (2-2).

All eight teams in the playoffs carry over their standings from the preliminary round for ranking in the quarterfinals, where the higher-ranked squads will sport twice-to-beat incentives. (ai/mnm)

Image Courtesy of Shakey’s Super League Facebook Page

NATIONAL Collegiate Athletic Association champion College of St. Benilde overcame a slow start to secure their first victory, defeating Letran with a score of 20-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-22, on Saturday in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 at the Filoil EcoOil Center in San Juan.

The Lady Blazers had to rally from being one set down and stage a come-from-behind effort in the fourth set to fend off the resilient Lady Knights. This intense match lasted for nearly two hours, resulting in a 1-0 record for CSB in Pool C of the tournament.

Four players contributed double-digit points, led by former NCAA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Gayle Pascual, who scored 14 points with 12 successful attacks. Her soft drop shot in the clinching moments marked the start of CSB’s journey to redemption in the 16-team SSL supported by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, and Genius Sports.

Jade Gentapa and Michelle Gamit, both former Finals MVPs, also chipped in with 13 points each, while Zamantha Nolasco contributed 11 points, including four blocks, for the two-time reigning NCAA champions.

Despite the victory, head coach Jerry Yee expressed dissatisfaction with the Lady Blazers’ performance in their debut match. This came a month after their early exit in the Shakey’s National Invitationals against another NCAA team, the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta.

Facing Letran, now under the guidance of new coach Oliver Almadro, CSB encountered difficulties early on, losing the opening set 20-25. However, they gradually regained their momentum and secured the next two sets, winning 25-14 in Set 2 and 25-18 in Set 3. In the fourth set, they had to rely on their championship experience, as they found themselves trailing 14-18 late in the set. Gia Marcel Maquilang’s successful hit off the block nearly pushed the match into a decisive fifth set. However, CSB managed to narrow the gap to 21-22 before Gayle Pascual’s stellar performance anchored a 4-0 finishing run, sealing their first win in SSL Season 2, which was held in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission. (ai/mnm)