Lady Chiefs repel Red Spikers, wrest PVL lead

NCAA champion Arellano U slowed down San Beda top hitter Cesca Racraquin as it hammered out a 25-22, 25-21, 25-18 victory yesterday to grab the solo lead in Group B of the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

Regine Arocha and Jovelyn Prado, who honed their skills while playing for the Power Smashers in the recent Reinforced and Open Conferences, fired 16 and 13 points, respectively, to power the Lady Chiefs to their second straight win and the top spot in their side of the twodivision tournament organized by Sports Vision.

Racraquin, who also played for Creamline in the first two conferences, struggled in the face of the Lady Chiefs’ solid net defense, finishing with just nine points after scoring a 19-point effort in their 25-13, 25-18, 25-27, 2513 win over the Technological Institute of the Phl Lady Engineers last Sunday.

“We worked on our defense,” said AU coach Obet Javier, whose wards also avenged their straight-set defeat from the same San Beda team in the Founders’ Cup last July.

After barely snaring the opening set, the Lady Chiefs trailed 13-16 in the second but put up a strong charge behind their defense and superb court coverage to go 2-set up.

Arellano then took charge early in the third and went on to clobber San Beda with power hits from Arocha and Prado to complete the straight-set win as the Lady Chiefs boosted their semifinal bid in the season-ending conference backed by Mikasa and Asics.

San Sebastian bounced back from its setback to Far Eastern U by repulsing Jose Rizal U, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21, in the second game for a 1-1 card in Group A. The Lady Bombers dropped to 0-2.

In men’s division, defending champion Ateneo turned back San Beda, 25-23, 25-16, 27-25, to grab a share of the lead with Santo Tomas at 2-0 in Group B.

But Far Eastern U foiled National U’s bid to join the Eagles at the helm as the Tams pulled off a 25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 14-25, 15-13 thriller in the other contest in the seasonending conference of the country’s premier volley league.