Adamson Lady Falcons. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Adamson put a lock on the No. 3 spot in the Final Four after downing Far Eastern University, 25-22, 28-26, 25-15, 25-17, on Sunday at the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball.
Kate Santiago smashed the FEU floor with 20 attacks out of her 21 points and Trisha Tubu added 18 points as the Lady Falcons wrapped up the elimination phase with a 10-4 record and arranged a semifinal showdown with the National University Lady Bulldogs.
It was Adamson’s best finish in the preliminaries since Season 70 when the Lady Falcons lost the championship to the Lady Tamaraws in a three-game thriller.
“We are heading to the Final Four and now that we are here, we will do everything possible to make it to the Finals,” said Tubu, who also contributed three blocks in the match that finalized the rankings going into the semifinals.
Lorence Toring chipped in 13 points and had two blocks, Lucille Almonte posted triple-double figures of 10 points, 16 digs and 22 receptions while skipper Louie Romero had 21 excellent sets for the Lady Falcons.
They must beat the defending champion Lady Bulldogs twice to progress to the Finals.
“We never expected to be here. We’ll prepare hard and make sure to execute well. It’s going to be now or never,’’ said Romero.
The other semifinal pairing pits the twice-to-beat La Salle Lady Spikers and the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses, who fell to No. 4 with the Adamson win regardless of the outcome of their match against the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons.
Christine Ubaldo blocked Santiago’s attack, tying the count at 18 in the opening set before Jean Asis scored a rare pair of aces that put FEU on top.
Rizza Cruz came to Adamson’s rescue with a crosscourt strike and a block while Tubu added a push, swinging the Lady Falcons back in control.
Almonte’s spike that went through the hands of Karyme Truz cemented the set for Adamson.
The Lady Falcons charged back from six points down and even led by two, ready to secure the second set on a series of Santiago down-the-line forays.
But the Lady Tamaraws managed to keep pace through the heroics of Gerzel Petallo and Ann Asis by equalizing at 24-all.
Toring’s blunder at the net and Alyzza Devosora’s crosscourt hit ended the set in FEU’s favor.
Romero had a couple of aces at the start of the third set as the Lady Falcons quickly created the separation they needed with Toring relentlessly bombarding the middle.
Ahead by 10, Santiago and Tubu put on the finishing touches on the set that FEU’s Chenie Tagaod concluded with a service error.
The Lady Falcons again raced to a commanding lead in the final set with Toring’s ace and Santiago’s attack through a block pushing them closer to match point.
Almonte scored on a down-the-line strike and Asis threw FEU’s possession away that sealed the deal for the Lady Falcons.
The Lady Tamaraws bowed out of the season with a 6-8 record.