V-League: UST ties series with four-set win over Adamson

After yielding a tight first set, the UST Lady Tigresses took the next three to defeat the Adamson Lady Falcons, 24-26 25-17 25-20 25-17, on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena, tying their battle for third place in the 10th Shakey's V-League's first conference.

Last Thursday, Adamson had taken game one by scores of 23-25 25-23 19-25 25-23 and 15-12.

UST started the first set with a quick 6-2 lead care of Maika Ortiz. The Lady Falcons however kept themselves close thanks to Faye Guevara’s keen defensive presence, as Adamson pulled themselves close at 12-11.

However, Carmela Tunay, Pamela Lastimosa, and Rhea Dimaculangan providing precious scoring opportunities for the Tigresses, pinning the Lady Falcons down, 19-13. With the UST lead getting out of hand, the experience of Shiela Pineda and Pau Soriano willed Adamson to to a deadlock, point-by-point. With their on-court hustle and continuous attacks, the Lady Falcons busted out a 9-3 scoring run to tie the set at 22-all.

Tigresses Jessey De Leon and Lastimosa gave UST set point at 24-23, but it was quickly be answered back with key plays from Guevara down the stretch, to bring the set to a 24-all deadlock. The Lady Falcons then completed the comeback at 26-24, following back-to-back attacks from Angela Benting and Soriano.

The Tigresses were off to another explosive start in the second set as Aiza Maizo and Lastimosa were relentless in attacking the Adamson defense. With their aggressiveness on court, the errors of Adamson started to pile up as UST held a 16-8 advantage.

UST then tied the match at one set a piece with a vicious Lastimosa spike that ended the set at 25-17.


The third set featured the Tigresses ahead once again by the first technical timeout at 8-5. The Lady Falcons retaliated to take the lead at 10-9, but it was short-lived as the Tigresses grabbed control of the set with a 17-13 advantage.

Benting inched the Lady Falcons closer as she tied the set at 17-all. However that served as Adamson’s final push of the set before UST surged ahead. Jessey De Leon managed to score three straight points to propel the Tigresses to set point, 24-17. Lastimosa again delivered the final point of the set as the Tigresses grabbed a 2-1 lead, with a score of 25-20.

UST once again took control of the momentum of the set as they easily notched a 16-11 advantage. With the Lady Falcons rattled by the offensive barrage of the Tigresses, Adamson piled up a multitude of unforced errors. The Tigresses then finished off the match with an eight-point advantage at 25-17.

Aiza Maizo led all scorers with 19 points for UST. She drew ample support from the likes of Pam Lastimosa (17 markers), Jessey De Leon (14 markers) and Maika Ortiz (11 markers).

Adamson drew 16 from Pau Soriano, while Angela Benting and Faye Guevara scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Shiela Pineda was held to just seven markers. - Renee Avena Fopalan / CLP / AMD, GMA News