MANILA, Philippines – The Adamson Lady Falcons wrapped up a stellar first round at the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament with a 25-18, 25-17, 25-23 sweep of the reeling UP Fighting Maroons at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, March 22.
Kate Santiago led the easy win with 16 points off 12 attacks, 3 blocks, and 1 ace as Adamson ended the opening round with a 5-2 record tied with UST, while UP dropped its fourth straight assignment for a 1-6 slate.
Louie Romero tallied 18 excellent sets as Adamson head coach Jerry Yee elected to give his bench extended minutes in the third set. As a result, usual weapons Trisha Tubu and Lucille Almonte added just 7 and 5 points, respectively.
Coming off a pair of blowout losses in the first and second set, UP finally exerted its best effort in the third and shot out to a 14-11 start off an Adamson service error.
However, the Lady Falcons’ second six eventually got their bearings as they swung the game back to their favor with a pivotal 7-1 run to mount an 18-15 lead off a Santiago off-speed hit, and never looked back.
While UP managed to tie the game late at 22-all off an Ethan Arce hit, a brief return by Adamson’s starting six set things right as Almonte and Santiago hammered down the last three points to seal the tight third-set clincher.
“We did our jobs. The games we were supposed to get, we got,” said Adamson head coach Jerry Yee in Filipino. “I think our first round was okay.”
Aly Bertolano paced another loss with 12 points off the bench while Abi Goc and Steph Bustrillo each chipped in 8 points.
The second round begins on Saturday, March 25, with a stacked quadruple-header at the PhilSports Arena. – Rappler.com
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