UAAP: Adamson makes quick work of UE in women’s volleyball

Adamson Lady Falcons in UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball. -UAAP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Adamson made a rousing debut as it tore University of the East apart with a 25-19, 25-9, 25-5 victory in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

It took just 63 minutes for the Lady Falcons to give their new coach Jerry Yee a winning comeback in the UAAP with Lucille Almonte and rookie spiker Trisha Tubu dealing the damage to the hapless Lady Red Warriors. 

Almonte led Adamson with 12 points built on 10 attacks and two blocks on top of eight digs, while Tubu shone in her first UAAP game with 11 points off eight kills, two aces, and a block.

Team captain Louie Romero made 14 excellent sets and scored four points, as Kate Santiago and Ayesha Juegos added seven markers each.

“Good game for us to get playing time for all. Hopefully, the following games, we could sustain it,” said Adamson coach Yee, who returned to the league for the first time since 2017 when he was still with University of the Philippines, in Filipino.

Adamson started demolishing UE in the second set as it scored 12 straight points capped by a net violation by Dara Nieva to pull away with a 17-3 margin and never looked back to take a two-set lead.

The Lady Falcons sustained their momentum in the third with a 10-3 start and scored 11 consecutive points for a 21-3 advantage and limited the Lady Red Warriors to just five points in the set — the second lowest scoring output in the league, tying Far Eastern University during its 25-5, 25-23, 25-23 loss to La Salle in Season 79 last March 8, 2017.

UE also holds the lowest output in the league when it only scored two in a set during its loss to University of Santo Tomas in 2010.

Adamson only committed eight errors in the match as it dominated UE in attacking, 39-24. But Yee said it’s far from a flawless game, shifting their focus against defending champion National University on Wednesday.

“Not too much [flawless]. We’ll see in our next game if we’ll be able to execute. [In that game] we’ll see, if we’re okay,” he said.

UE gave up 24 errors with Ja Lana and KC Cepada leading the way with seven points each.