Pinoy Spikers (Philippine Spike)

UNIVERSITY of the East and La Salle-Zobel swept their respective elimination round matches to clinch the outright championship in the boys and girls division in the UAAP juniors volleyball tournament over the weekend at the UE Caloocan gymnasium.

The Junior Warriors beat the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs, 22-25, 29-27, 25-14, 25-21, to register a 10-game sweep and extend their domination to seven years.

Season MVP Kim Gerald Relcopan, who was also named the Best Server, led UE’s campaign.

Other Junior Warriors players who also bagged ng individual awards are Edward Camposano as Rookie of the Year, Carl Michael Manuel as Best Blocker, Geuel Asia as Best Setter and Darren de Dios as Best Receiver.
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LIKE in any other successful sporting campaign, Adamson leaned on the 3 Ds – desire, determination and discipline – to annex its second Shakey’s V-League crown Thursday.

But for good measure, it added another one – defense. The Lady Falcons neutralized Thai import Jeng Bualee and the San Sebastian College-Excelroof’s vaunted power game with their superb net and floor defense to prevail in their sudden death for the league’s Season 7 second conference crown.

What made the victory impressive was that they did it in three sets, 26-24, 25-17, 25-16, finally mastering the Lady Stags after nipping them in three cliffhangers, including the series’ opener, 25-13, 25-17, 30-32, 21-25, 15-13.
Adamson also surprised San Sebastian with a new defensive weapon in libero Angelica Vasquez, who took over from multi-awarded defensive specialist Lizless Ann Gata and went on to bag the conference’s best digger honors.

The team’s reinforcements also anchored the victory with former MVP Nene Bautista and Michelle Laborte providing the leadership and poise for a young team, particularly in those three five-setters against the Lady Stags.
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ADAMSON survived a close opening set to beat San Sebastian College-Excelroof, 26-24, 25-17, 25-16, and snatch the Shakey’s V-League second conference crown in the finals decider Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Falcons won the series, 2-1, to bag their second title in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

Known for its dreaded floor defense, Adamson joined University of Santo Tomas (six) and La Salle (three) among the teams that won two or more championships in the premiere women’s volleyball competition in the country.

“Discipline, that’s the No. 1 key to this win,” said a jubilant Lady Falcons mentor Dulce Pante.

“Pinakamasarap na tagumpay namin ito dahil sa umabot ng tatlong games.  Mahirap pero nagawa namin ito dahil sa dedikasyon ng mga bata,” she added.
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SAN Sebastian College-Excelroof coach Roger Gorayeb said the key to their title aspirations is consistency. For Adamson mentor Dulce Pante, its defense.

“If we could play consistently aggressive and continue to stay focused from start to finish, we have a strong chance of winning a championship again,” said Gorayeb, after steering the Lady Stags to a four-set win Sunday that forced a
winner-take-all match for the Shakey’s V-League second conference crown.

The Lady Falcons, on the other hand, vowed to stick on their defense, which anchored their impressive run in the season-ending conference, including a sweep of the quarters and their three matches with San Sebastian.
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