UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas and Adamson made the race for the last two ‘Final Four’ slots more exciting by posting crucial wins Wednesday in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Maika Ortiz dropped a personal-season high 20 hits while Maru Banaticla added 15 points as the Tigresses bundled out University of the East of contention with a 25-21, 25-15, 25-16 victory.
Pau Soriano fired 20 points to help the Lady Falcons derail Far Eastern University, 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19.
With the loss, the Lady Tamaraws bid to make a return stint to the semifinals has hit a snag.
FEU fell to a three-way tie with UST and Adamson at 7-5.
Sheila Pineda chipped in 19 hits, while Mayette Zapanta bounced back from a mini-slump with 16 points, including two blocks, and Angelica Vasquez had 14 digs for the Lady Falcons.
“At least umangat ang laro nina Pau (Soriano) at Mayette (Zapanta), hindi maganda yung ipinakita nila sa mga past games,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante.
“Kailangan naming manalo sa last two games para makapasok kami,” she added.
Rosemarie Vargas finished with 19 points and 12 digs while Mayjorie Roxas and Wenneth Eulalio had 11 hits apiece for the Lady Tamaraws.
The Tigresses needed only one hour and 11 minutes to upend the Lady Warriors, who slipped to 4-8 mark.
“We are trying to get better every game,” said UST rookie coach Odjie Mamon.
Jimberly Dawn Dizon paced the Lady Warriors, who will miss the ‘Final Four’ for the fifth straight year, with nine markers.
In the men’s play, JR Labrador collected 26 hits while Kirk Beliran added 16 points as FEU (10-2) claimed the first ticket in the semifinals with a close 20-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 15-11 triumph of La Salle (6-5).
Reyson Fuentes and Rueben Inaudito combined for 23 points as National University (7-5) boosted its ‘Final Four’ bid by routing UE (0-12), 25-23, 25-14, 25-14. (TJ)
