San Sebastian College-Recoletos pulled off a reverse sweep over Ateneo de Manila University, 19-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-8, to exit the 2025 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Preseason Unity Cup with its head held up high on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Stags finished with a 1-2 win-loss record in Pool D, tied with the Blue Eagles. However, Ateneo punched the last ticket to the second round with a 4-2 match points advantage over SSC-R.
Graduating winger Kath Santos poured 20 of her 21 points from kills in her last game as a Lady Stag in the tournament backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner and R and B Milk Tea.
“‘Di namin ini-expect itong panalo sa game na ‘to. Talagang in-effortan namin ‘yung game namin ngayon, nagtulong-tulong kami. Natalo kami ng dalawang set pero sinabi ni coach Clint (Malazo) na i-enjoy namin ang game na ito,” said Santos, who scored 10 points in the fourth set.
SSC-R carried the momentum of its third and fourth set wins into the deciding frame as it raced to a comfortable 10-4 advantage capped by Juna Gonzales’ back-to-back hits.
A service error by Ana Hermosura widened the Lady Stags’ lead to 13-6 before May Tsunashima pounded consecutive hits to bring the Blue Eagles back to life.
Santos answered with a hit before Tsunashima committed the last of Ateneo’s 34 errors with an overcooked spike to end the two-hour, two-minute contest.
Hermosura had 15 points while Faye Nisperos got 13 for the Blue Eagles, who will take on Adamson University to kick off their single round-robin second round campaign in Pool E on Sunday.
In the first game, University of the Philippines completed a three-game sweep of Pool C in an emphatic 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 crushing of listless Letran.
Casiey Dongallo submitted nine points off the bench to pace the Fighting Maroons in the final preliminary round playdate of the competition, supported by Asics, Mikasa, Smart Sports, Summit, Team Rebel Sports, Belo Deo, Eurotel- Apo View Hotel, Batangas Country Club, Executive Optical, Baic Auto Philippines, SM Tickets and PusoP.com as technical partners.
Yesha Noceja added seven markers while Sarah Ali, Bienne Bansil and Jelai Gajero added six points each to highlight UP’s balanced offense.
The Lady Knights ended their campaign winless in three starts.
Judiel Nitura and Jogi Maquillang had nine and eight points for Letran.
Meanwhile, second-round-bound Far Eastern University and Adamson University decided to forfeit their Pool B match due to prior commitments.
Both teams won their first two games without dropping a set, but the Lady Tamaraws secured the top seeding in the pool via higher point quotient.
Second round matches on Saturday pit University of Santo Tomas, which swept Mapua University, 25-19, 25-17, 25-22, on Thursday to advance, against FEU at 4 p.m. while unbeaten College of Saint Benilde squares off with San Beda University at 2 p.m. in Pool F.
Undefeated four-peat-seeking National University crosses paths with Adamson in Pool E at 12 p.m.
The top two-ranked squads after the second round will be armed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the crossover quarterfinals.
Games in the SSL Preseason Unity Cup are available live and on demand via PusoP.com and Solar Sports.
