Tigresses edge Falcons, set title duel with Stags

University of Santo Tomas proved steadier than Adamson in a highly-charged fifth set duel that featured 12 deadlocks, pulling off a 17-25, 25-14, 25-20, 9-25, 15-13 win to arrange a showdown with San Sebastian for the Shakey’s V-League second conference crown at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

The Tigresses showed championship poise to snatch victory from the clutches of defeat as they pounced on two errors by the Lady Falcons to clinch the game-winning points that ended the one-hour and 41-minute match between two of the league’s top teams.

UST, coming off a 9-25 blowout in the fourth frame that set up the thrilling decider, surged ahead at 13-12 but Angela Benting unloaded her 14th hit as Adamson forced the 12th deadlock to gain possession and momentum.

Adamson coach Dulce Pante then sued for time to plot their next offensive but the ploy seemed to have backfired as rookie Angelica Quinlog made a service error, yielding the crucial point and the initiative to UST.

The Lady Falcons made a good reception off UST’s serve but Benting was called for a violation when she touched the net while trying to come up with a game-tying spike, enabling the Tigresses to escape with the win.

“We got lucky in the end. It was like a championship game,” said UST coach Cesael delos Santos. “With two rookies in the team, they played with a big fighting heart.”

For updates and results, visit the tournament website at www.v-league.ph. The league, organized by Sports Vision, is backed by Active White skin whitening products, Mikasa and Accel.

Meanwhile, the Adamson-UST game will be telecast at 2 p.m. today with replays to be shown on both Viva Prime Channel on Destiny Cable and Makisig Channel on Sky Cable.

Game One of the best-of-three finals will start on Friday with UST eyeing a fourth championship in six finals appearances in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

San Sebastian, which swept La Salle in their Final Four duel to advance, will be out to avenge one of its two losses to UST in the final.

UST drew a combined 34-point output from reinforcements Venus Bernal and Mary Jean Balse while rookies Judy Ann Caballejo and Maika Ortiz tossed in 10 and nine points, respectively.

Neriza Bautista led Adamson with 24 hits while Rissa Jane Laguilles and Benting wound up with 14 points apiece for the Lady Falcons, who also got 12 hits from Paulina Soriano.