National University and Adamson University marched to the semifinals after rolling past their respective quarterfinal opponents in the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Bulldogs clinched the first Final Four berth after booting out Far Eastern University with a 25-10, 25-17, 25-15 crushing to remain undefeated in the tournament.
NU saw little resistance from the Lady Tamaraws as it rained down 53 attack points and landed 22 aces to finish the game in just 72 minutes.
“We prepared really well coming into this game. I think that helped us a lot in this game,” said Lady Bulldogs coach Karl Dimaculangan, whose wards won their sixth straight in as many starts.
NU will face in the knockout semifinal the survivor between University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines in the other quarterfinal pairing being played at press time.
Erin Pangilinan and veteran Alyssa Solomon did most of the damage for NU, which registered 53 attack points and exploited the erratic reception game of FEU to land 22 aces.
Pangilinan accounted for eight of the total service winners scored by the Lady Bulldogs as she finished with 13 points while Solomon had 10 attacks, an ace and a kill block for 12 markers.
Meanwhile, the Lady Falcons swept University of Perpetual Help, 25-14, 25-16, 25-16, behind the duo of May Ann Nuique and Ayesha Juegos.
The Lady Falcons, who won their seventh straight match, will face in the knockout semis the winner between collegiate rivals De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University in the other quarterfinals pairing that is also being played at press time.
Nuique finished with 11 points off eight kills, two kill blocks and an ace while Juegos got 10 markers anchored on eight spikes and two service winners for Adamson, which came off a morale-boosting win over La Salle to end the second round Saturday.
“The team played more relaxed today compared to yesterday. My second unit also stepped up to help our starters who I think were a bit tired after our game against La Salle,” Lady Falcons coach Jerry Yee said.
Adamson overpowered the Lady Altas on attacks, 43-25, and even received 20 free points off Perpetual’s errors.
Antonette Adolfo added nine points while Rochell Lalongisip registered six for the Lady Falcons.
FEU, which dropped its fourth straight game, and Perpetual are relegated to the classification round.
The Final Four is slated on Friday, 11 November, while the winner-take-all championship match is set on 19 November.
