The Lady Maroons celebrate a hard-earned win. Photo by Josh Albelda

UP Lady Maroons (3) – (2) UE Lady Warriors

14-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-12

Best: UP’s rookies might have been wildly inconsistent throughout the season, but leading this fightback --- from two sets down at that --- showed heart and gave us a glimpse of what could be a bright future in Diliman.

Worst: Everyone in the UE Lady Warriors not named Leuseht Dawis. Dawis turned into a combination of Alyssa Valdez (18 hits) and Aby Marano (6 blocks) for a day, but with the Lady Maroons charging back, nobody (well, aside from Shiesa Nebrida) bothered to help out. And yes, we’re talking about you, Faith Bulan.

‘Champion’ in Season 75: In what many volleyball followers bill as “the other championship,” UP swept UE, 2-0, in Season 75. The Lady Maroons banked on adrenaline in their first-round matchup and leaned on heart (and a lot of Lady Warriors’ errors) this time around to keep UE winless since December.

Pau Soriano hits it as Adamson survived FEU. Photo by Josh Albelda

ADU Lady Falcons (3) – (2) FEU Lady Tamaraws

22-25, 25-17, 15-25, 25-18, 15-13

Best: Shiela Pineda started slow in Season 75, but her game has picked up big when 2013 began, culminating in this 20-point and 17-dig effort that saw her deliver the killer blows as Adamson inched closer to a once-unthinkable twice-to-beat spot.

Worst: FEU’s 39 errors. In a match decided by just four points across five sets, the Lady Tamaraws’ eye-popping 39 errors did them in. The Lady Falcons, on the other hand, had only 25, something that negated FEU’s advantage in attacking (60-47).

Bang, bang, bang!: With the Lady Tamaraws up, 13-12, in the fifth set, Pineda came to the rescue for Adamson, scoring off an off-speed attack before sending her team to match point with a service ace, her fifth of the day.