University of Santo Tomas warmed up for the semifinals with a swift and merciless 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 victory over National U yesterday in the Shakey’s V-League at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Getting another big game from Thai reinforcement Utaiwan Kaensing, the Tigresses were all business in crushing the Lady Bulldogs in a little over an hour and securing the No. 2 seed in the Final Four.
Ateneo will enter the semifinals as the top seed, with Perpetual Help and San Sebastian still disputing the No. 3 seed as of presstime.
“We are ready for whoever we face in the semifinals,” said UST coach Odjie Mamon, who is looking to give UST its seventh V-League crown in the tournament.
Earlier, Adamson closed out its campaign with a 25-21, 25-12, 25-9 hammering of Far Eastern U.
Nerissa Bautista delivered 20 kills, while Pau Soriano drilled 11 attacks for the Lady Falcons, who finished the tournament with a 2-5 record.
The Lady Falcons’ elimination stung coach Dulce Pante, who believes her team could have done better in the tournament.
“It was a sad thing that when the team finally adjusted, we were already eliminated,” she said. “It was a tough blow for us losing our setter and libero from last season, but I am happy that the players got the exposure they needed and that is where we will start from.”
The Lady Tamaraws looked battle-weary as they struggled to find their way past a formidable Adamson net defense. FEU also committed 18 errors.