Photo by Celest R. Flores/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Adamson leaned on its tenacity to overcome Far Eastern University and gain the last berth in the UAAP season 76 women’s volleyball semifinals on Wednesday.
The Lady Falcons bucked a 1-1 deficit to oust the gritty Lady Tamaraws, 25-17, 23-25, 23-25, 25-13, 15-11, at the Arena in San Juan and leaned on Shiela Pineda in crunch time.
“We should’ve pushed it more in the second and third set, where we had a problem with our first ball,” said head coach Sherwin Menses.
“It was a good thing we recovered in the fourth and players showed how tough they are.”
Pineda, once again, proved how invaluable she is for Adamson by scoring half of her squad’s last eight points in the final frame which broke the 8-all deadlock.
The Lady Falcons’ star spiker finished with 25 points, all but one from kills as she towed her squad to a final four appearance, which would be her last.
Mayette Zapanta also came through in the fifth frame along with Amanda Villanueva and they combined for 26 points for the Adamson.
Villanueva eventually nailed the clincher after a miscue from the referee prematurely gave the Lady Falcons the win in the previous play.
It was a confidence-boosting win for Adamson, which faces Ateneo on Sunday in another knockout match in the step-ladder format.
The Lady Tamaraws, after showing tremendous promise this season, will go back to the drawing board after falling short of making it to the top 4.
FEU botched a 2-1 set lead as it allowed Adamson to go on a momentum-halting 25-13 fourth frame win.
Bernadeth Pons, who is a cinch for rookie of the year award, finished with 16 points to lead the Lady Tamaraws in a losing effort.