Arellano University shored up its playoff drive, beating Lyceum with a 25-22, 17-25, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Lyceum of the Philippines U in the 2023 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 Sunday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Laika Tudlasan once again stamped her class with 19 points on 17 hits and two aces as the Lady Chiefs closed out their preliminary campaign in Pool B at 2-1 after a 25-16, 25-21, 25-21 sweep of San Beda in the opener.
Arellano’s lone loss came at the expense of Adamson (1-0), 19-25, 17-25, 22-25, sporting a pretty chance to advance in the next round pending the final Pool B matches that also feature Lyceum (1-1) and San Beda (0-2).
Tudlasan drew support from Marianne Padillion with 14 points as Donnalyn Paralejas dished out 22 excellent sets on top of four points in Arellano’s crucial win in the 16-team SSL 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 and Genius Sports.
“Sobrang halaga po ng laban namin na ito kasi kung natalo kami, baka mawalan po kami ng chance sa Top 2. Nanalo po kami at ngayon may pag-sang makapasok sa Top 2 at ma-extend pa ang laban namin sa Shakey’s,” said Paralejas.
Save for a second-set struggle in a 17-25 defeat, the Lady Chiefs kept the Lady Pirates at bay in the majority of the match highlighted by a resilient stand in the third set to take a 2-1 lead.
Tudlasan anchored Arellano’s great comeback from a 12-17 deficit, riding on a 13-4 finishing kick punctuated by a thunderous hit off the block by Pauline De Guzman, who finished with seven points.
Smelling blood, the Lady Chiefs never allowed a window of opportunity for the Lady Pirates since then with a searing 10-5 start in the fourth set on its way to clinching the crucial win.
Stacey Lopez scored 11 while Johna Dolorito and Hiromi Osada had 10 each in the losing cause for Lyceum, which will clash on Monday against Adamson in a must-win battle of the SSL Season 2 with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.
All games will be 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.
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