MANILA, Philippines—Aiming to join an elite club with at least two Shakey’s V-League titles, Adamson and San Sebastian start Thursday their best-of-three championship series of the Season 7 Second Conference at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Gametime is at 4 p.m. with the Lady Falcons holding a huge psychological edge after sweeping their elimination and quarterfinal round meetings with the Lady Stags.
With multi-titled University of Santo Tomas skipping the tournament, both Adamson and San Sebastian underscored their pre-tournament billing by topping the elimination and quarterfinal rounds.
San Sebastian swept Far Eastern U in two games in the semifinals, although their series-clinching victory was marred by a controversial call in Game 2 last Sunday.
Dragged by Lyceum to five sets before prevailing in Game 1 of their Final Four showdown, the Lady Falcons displayed their attacking depth in a convincing three-set win that wrapped up the series last Sunday.
That victory last Sunday actually extended the Lady Falcons winning streak to 10 games in the tournament.
“If we continue to play our style, I think we’ll have a good chance of winning,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante, who steered the Lady Falcons to their first and only title in the first conference of Season 5 two years ago.
With their evenly-matched rosters, San Sebastian and Adamson form one of the most popular rivalries in the league.
The Lady Falcons came away with a five-set victory over the Lady Stags in the second round.
But the tension was palpable between the two teams as the Lady Stags walked away from the court when several Adamson players approached them for the traditional postgame handshake.
Some Adamson and San Sebastian players were also seen trading taunts during the game.
Adamson is still relying on Nerissa Bautista and Angela Benting, who were vital cogs in that successful title run in 2008, on attack, while veteran Michelle Laborte and Pau Soriano and newcomer Gail Martin have been solid on the defensive end.
San Sebastian has only won one title in six previous trips to the finals. The Stags’ latest heartbreak came in the first conference last May when they bowed to UST.
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