Lady Chiefs seek volley crown vs San Beda belles

MANILA, Philippines — Arellano University shoots for the clincher while San Beda U vows to force a sudden death as they clash in Game Two of the NCAA women’s volleyball finals at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan today.

Regine Arocha and Jovielyn Prado fired 14 and 13 points, respectively, but the Lady Chiefs needed to check a late meltdown to hack out a 25-15, 25-16, 15-25, 22-25, 15-6 decision in the series’ opener last Friday.

The Lady Chiefs, however, are coming into the 4 p.m. match all pumped up for another victory and a second straight championship although coach Obet Javier has stressed the need for his wards to stay focused throughout.

“We lost concentration in the third and fourth sets that nearly cost us the game. We can’t afford to play with consistency,” said Javier.

But Lady Red Spikers are going all-out in an attempt to send their best-of-three series to a deciding match on Thursday.

Arellano U is actually gunning for a “double” as its men’s team likewise goes for the crown against Perpetual Help after pulling off a shock 12-25, 25-21, 19-25, 26-24, 15-9 triumph over the erstwhile unbeaten squad in their side of the finals.

Christian dela Paz, a 20-year-old Parang, Marikina City native, outshone newly crowned rookie MVP Joebert Almodiel with a 24-hit performance to push the Chiefs closer to their first title.

AU coach Sherwin Meneses said the key to beating Perpetual Help, which gained outright finals seat with a sweep of the elims, is to stay confident and not get intimidated by the Altas elims feat.

“We didn’t allow ourselves to get intimidated, we just focused on trying to win a championship,” said Meneses.

In juniors play, defending champion Perpetual Help and Letran start their own best-of-three playoff at 11 a.m.

The Squires twice defeated the Emilio Aguinaldo Brigadiers, including the finals berth-clinching 25-23, 28-30, 25-23, 25-23 victory.