DEFENDING champion University of Santo Tomas seeks to book its second straight finals stint against a dangerous Adamson side Wednesday in the ‘Final Four’ of the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Although the Tigresses swept their head-to-head showdown in the eliminations, the third-ranked Lady Falcons are still capable to pull some surprises and force a semis decider.
Gametime is at 4 p.m.
The other ‘Final Four’ pairing pits elimination round topnotcher La Salle and fourth-seed Ateneo on Saturday.
The Lady Archers needed to win once against the fast-fading Lady Eagles to clinch their third consecutive championship appearance.
Adamson is riding on a crest of its surprisingly easy 25-14, 25-21, 25-16 win over Ateneo last Sunday to bag the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
UST, on the other hand, battled tooth and nail with La Salle before dropping a 20-25, 27-25, 25-18, 22-25, 12-15 decision in their blockbuster showdown which capped the elims.
“As long as magdadala uli sina Angela (Benting) at Pau (Soriano), palagay ko may chance kami,” said Lady Falcons mentor Dulce Pante.
On its sixth straight semis stint, Adamson, which made it to the finals in the 2007-08 season but lost to Far Eastern University in three games, is still looking for its first-ever title.
Aside from Benting and Soriano, who figured prominently in the scoring department at the end of eliminations which topped by Tigresses star Aiza Maizo, Sheila Pineda and Mayette Zapanta must give their A-game for the Lady Falcons to stay in the hunt.
No doubt the Maizo’s impressive all-around performance carried UST to a second place finish in the elims.
The 23-year old Maizo also leads in the receiving department and placed second behind La Salle’s Jacq Alarca, who is said to be her biggest threat for the coveted MVP award, in attacks.
Judy Caballejo, Maru Banaticla and Maika Ortiz are expected to deliver the goods for the Tigresses, who prior to the tournament have ruled the Philippine Unigames in Dumaguete City.
UST edged Adamson in five sets in the first round, 19-25, 26-28, 25-11, 25-16, 15-10, before repeating in their second meeting, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23.
Top seed FEU seeks to book a place in the men’s championship against No. 4 University of the Philippines in the curtain raiser at 2 p.m. (TJ)
The only way Adamson can upset UST is if UST players are not healthy or are playing with injuries. Not discrediting the Falcons but UST is playing more cohesive, more athletic and more exciting than Adamson.
Try watching the games played by UST and Adamson. Iba maglaro ang UST kahit na mabagal pumick-up ang games nila, you’ll be on the edge of your seats whenever the tigresses are playing… They have 3-5 setter wins and that makes them the champions and very mature!