By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Games Today (The Arena, San Juan City)
8 a.m. – EAC vs CSB (j)
9:30 a.m. – EAC vs CSB (m)
11 a.m. – EAC vs CSB (w)
12:30 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (w)
2 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (m)
3:30 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (j)
Defending champion Arellano University continued its winning ways and dominated Lyceum, 25-16, 25-17, 25-11, yesterday to keep its record immaculate in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
The Lady Chiefs took advantage of the undermanned Lady Pirates as Coach Obet Javier shuffled his lineup to pick up their fifth straight win for the solo lead.
Necole Ebuen scored 11 points even as Mary Anne Esguerra, Regine Arocha and Andrea Marzan contributed 10 points each as Arellano banked on its 41 attacks to seal the victory in 63 minutes.
Javier said their performance was an improvement from their previous game’s four-set win, but pointed out that they still needed to improve on their defense after managing only one block.
“Reception, blocking… Kailangan naming magpursigi lalo na at mabibigat yung mga susunod na kalaban namin,” said Javier, referring to their next matches against Perpetual Help tomorrow and San Beda on Friday.
Earlier, the Perpetual Lady Altas showed their grit and downed the Jose Rizal University Lady Bombers, 25-21, 22-25, 25-14, 25-21, to jump to 4-1 at third place.
Maria Lourdes Clemente and Cindy Imbo sparkled anew for the Lady Altas with 19 and 18 points, respectively, including combined 26 hits and eight blocks.
Meanwhile, Lyceum slipped to 1-4 near the bottom standings while JRU dropped to 2-3.
In men’s division, Perpetual Help swept JRU, 25-17, 25-16, 25-20, to remain undefeated in five games.
Ronniel Rosales fired 13 points while Rey Taneo and Joebert Almodiel chipped in 12 points apiece as the Altas’ relentless attacks weakened the Bombers’ defense.