Adamson seals playoff for final berth

Adamson battled back from a set down to sweep the next three in down-to-the-wire fashions as it subdued San Sebastian College, 20-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-23, yesterday to assure itself of a playoff for the second finals berth in the V-League presented by Shakey’s at the Blue Eagle gym.

The victory was the Lady Falcons’ ninth in 13 games as they firmed up their hold of second place behind first finalist De La Salle while jeopardizing the Lady Stags’ bid for a crack at the second championship slot after reeling to their sixth setback against eight wins.

Cherry Macatangay ripped San Sebastian’s defense with her power spikes that produced 28 kills for a 34-point performance as she almost single-handedly carried Adamson to the crucial victory that put the Lady Falcons beyond reach of the SSC spikers in their heated duel for the second finals spot.

With their third loss against four wins in the semis, San Sebastian got stalled in its bid for the 5-of-8 incentive rule for a playoff for the second championship berth and it would need to hurdle its final semis assignment against Far Eastern U on Saturday to force a sudden death with Adamson.

It was actually Rubie de Leon who delivered the killer blows for Adamson in the fourth set with Macatangay taking charge in the second and third frames to set the tone for their fightback that avenged the Lady Falcons’ four-set loss to SSC in the first round of the semis.

Earlier, Lyceum pounced on the absence of Thai import Jindarat Kanchana as it pounded out a tough 25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 25-17, 18-16 victory over De La Salle in the event presented by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

Guest player Ma. Concepcion Legaspi scored 20 of his 25 points on attacks, including the marginal ones that lifted the Lady Pirates to the victory and ended the grueling two-hour and six-minute encounter between a team already out of the finals race and the first finalist.

It was Lyceum’s seventh victory against the same number of losses while dealing La Salle its second straight setback after clinching the first championship berth following a stirring 11-game run.

Kanchana, La Salle’s tower of power, didn’t see action after sustaining a knee injury in the team’s four-set defeat to the Lady Stags last Saturday.

Jaroensri Bualee scored 26 points for SSC, which appeared headed to claim the No. 2 spot after roaring to a thre-game run last week, only to falter with back-to-back setbacks in the event backed by Accel, Mikasa, Aquabest, VFresh, ABC-5 and ABC Sports.