UAAP volleyball: UST trips Adamson to clinch finals berth

University of Santo Tomas will be defending its UAAP men's volleyball title after beating Adamson University, 20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-12, in their Final Four match Saturday at The Arena in San Juan City.   The Growling Tigers dropped the opening set but recovered just in time to sweep the next three frames to formally clinch the first finals berth. UST, playing in its fifth straight finals, will face the winner of the Far Eastern U-La Salle knockout semis match. Mark Gil Alfafara scored 17 while Christian Arbasto and Romnick Rico tallied 15 points each for the Tigers. UST, after a tight third set, dominated Adamson in the fourth and posted an early 10-3 lead that later turned to a 22-11 advantage on an Alfafara service ace. The Tigers made six straight kills in that 12-8 scoring exchange. They also scored five of the game's last six points. "Masaya ako siyempre kasi nasa finals na naman kami,” said UST coach Emil Lontoc. "Alam ko na kaya nilang lumaro sa finals kaya never akong nagduda sa kakayahan nila." — JVP, GMA News