ARELLANO moved a step closer to the NCAA women’s volleyball semifinals, beating Letran 25-14, 26-28, 25-19, 25-16, on Tuesday at the Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Chiefs bounced back after absorbing their first defeat of the season to University of Perpetual Help last week, improving their win-loss record to 6-1 and securing at least a playoff for a Final Four berth.
Two-time Finals MVP Regine Arocha tallied 19 points off 15 spikes, two blocks and two aces.
Last season’s MVP Necole Ebuen had 13 points and eight digs, while Carla Donato added 13 markers, highlighted by four blocks.
Arellano head coach Obet Javier was far from convinced.
“Nakakatakot 'yung performance ng team ko kasi pabago bago, dapat hindi gan'un 'yung takbo eh,” Javier lamented.
“Nanalo kami pero hindi gan'un kasaya dahil ang dami pa ring lapses ng team. Andoon pa rin eh. Nag relax eh. Hindi dapat gan'un 'yung takbo ng laro.”
“Sana maisip nila na hindi dapat pepwedeng ganun every game na lagi may pagbabago na hindi maganda,” he added.
Chamberlaine Cuñada led Letran with 16 points, while Julienne Castro added 10 points and 10 digs but the Knights committed 38 errors.
Letran fell to a 3-3 card, behind idle fourth placer San Beda (4-2) by a game in the race for the last spot in the semifinals.
In men’s play, the Chiefs also regained their winning ways, scoring a 25-22, 25-12, 25-17 victory over the Knights.
Jesrael Liberato showed the way with 17 points. Christian Segovia nailed five blocks and finished with 12 markers, while Kim Tan and Christian Dela Paz added eight apiece as Arellano improved its record to 5-2.
In the juniors division, the Braves extended their unbeaten run to seven and clinched a berth in the semifinals by beating the Squires, 25-12, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20.
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