Lady Falcons impose will on skidding Tigresses

MANILA, Philippines – The Adamson Lady Falcons faltered for a set but righted the ship just in time to thwart the UST Lady Tigresses in 4 sets, 25-17, 15-25, 25-20, 25-20, to hike their record to 3-2 at third place in the UAAP Season 77 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday, December 13 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Mylene Paat and Amanda Villanueva conspired for a combined 30 points (15 markers each) to shake off a pesky UST squad who was led by blue-chip rookie EJ Laure and Marivic Meneses with 11 points apiece. 

Jessica Galanza added 11 markers while libero Marlene Cortel was all over Adamson’s floor defense with her 19 excellent receptions. Team captain Faye Guevarra contributed 6 points as her team visibly oozed with positive energy all game long.

The Lady Falcons came out strong and zoomed to a 13-5 lead in the first set. They capitalized on disorganized play from the Tigresses to bag the first set, 25-17.

UST, who continues to struggle at the bottom of the standings with a 4-game losing skid after their opening day victory, recovered their bearings in the second period and sunk Adamson, 25-15, behind more fluid offense.

But the Lady Falcons’ net defense leveled up in sets 3 and 4, sending back most of the Tigresses’ attacks even though UST won the blocking department 12-11. Coach Sherwin Meneses’ wards also drilled the Espanya-based volleybelles from the service deck with 8 aces, while UST only had two. 

Both teams cancelled each other out with 35 errors apiece, including several rotation errors. 

Cherry Ann Rondina emerged as another offensive option for the Tigresses with 8 points while usual suspect Mela Tunay was awfully quiet with just 4 points. Team captain Pam Lastimosa had no points across her name.

Adamson setter Trishia Emnas out-dueled her UST counterpart in setting, 30-20.

Scores

Adamson: Paat 15, Villanueva 15, Galanza 11, Guevara 6, Alkuino 5, Emnas 3.

UST: Laure 11, Meneses 11, Rondina 8, Cortez 6, De Leon 5, Tunay 4, Cabanos 2. 

– Rappler.com