V-League: Falcons show force, dump Tigresses to take first game of battle for third series

The Adamson Lady Falcons defeated the UST Golden Tigresses in four set to take the first game of their battle for third series by a score of 25-17 25-23 18-25 25-19, Sunday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Coach Sherwin Meneses spoke after the game on how his team struggled in the third set, saying, “Yung UST madaling makabalik yan, kasi malakas talaga yung blocking niyan.”

Nonetheless, he was still happy about the victory and shared how they’re eager to finish the tournament on a strong note. “Hopefully sana matapos na para makabakasyon na yung mga player.”

The Lady Falcons opened the match with an immediate 2-0 set score advantage. The first set began with a 12-4 start for the Lady Falcons sparked by the veteran, Pau Soriano. With the relentless attacks of Pacharee Sangmuang and Shiela Pineda, Adamson took full control as the Tigresses struggled to retaliate offensively. The first set ended with the score in favor of Adamson at 25-17.

The second set displayed a similar story with the Lady Falcons in full control. Despite UST’s efforts of closing the gap via EJ Laure’s production down the stretch, Sangmuang and Jessica Galanza had an instant response. Sangmuang’s attack was too much for the UST blockers, as it sealed the second set with a 25-23 victory.

The Tigresses answered back in the third set and made the proper adjustments. The set featured 12 deadlocks before Jessey De Leon and Chlodia Cortez led the Tigresses on top with a 16-13 advantage by the technical timeout. With unforced errors and miscues by the Lady Falcons, UST was able to take control of the set. The Tigresses were able to notch a mark on the scoreboard with the 25-18 win.

The fourth set boiled down to another back-and-forth affair as Marivic Meneses and Soriano scored for their respective squads. Adamson however was able to break away and gain momentum as the front-row presence of Mylene Paat and Amanda Villanueva placed the Lady Falcons on top by the technical time out at 16-15.

With Villanueva’s consistency from the service zone, Adamson was able to capitalize on Pineda position at the front-row. Pineda scored on three straight attacks and pushed Adamson’s lead at 20-16. UST was unable to respond to the Lady Falcon’s offensive onslaught as a Soriano drop shot ended the match with the score of 25-19.

Sangmuang finished the match with a game-high 17 points, followed by Pineda’s 14. The duo of Soriano and Villanueva notched 10 markers each, ahead of Paat’s 9. Cortez led the Tigresses with 14 points followed by Meneses and Laure’s 11.

UST still had the blocking advantage in the match with the 79-58 difference. However, the Lady Falcons were able to dominate in the attacks department with the 60-47 advantage.  - RAF, GMA News

P-2 for Match 44_ UST-ADU by GMA News Online