Tigresses down Falcons, near V-League crown

MANILA, Philippines - University of Santo Tomas, mixing solid spiking with superb blocking, reasserted their mastery over Adamson University, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, to move in the threshold of sweeping the twin titles in the Shakey’s V-League Season 6 at The Arena in San Juan last night.

Angeli Tabaquero and rookie Maru Banaticla took charge of offense and pooled 21 hits while skipper Aiza Maizo and Maika Ortiz combined for 11 of the Tigresses’ 21 blocks as the first conference champions rolled past the Lady Falcons in the opener of their best-of-three series for the crown.

UST, which beat San Sebastian in sudden death to claim the first conference crown of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza last June, tries to wrap up its fifth crown tomorrow.

Tabaquero and Maizo wound up with 14 points apiece while Ortiz and Banaticla added 12 and 11 hits, respectively, for the Tigresses, who recovered from a second set loss with a scrambling win in the third before re-stamping their class in the fourth.

Jill Gustilo stepped up for Adamson with 16 hits while team captain Angela Benting tossed in 14 points and Paulina Soriano had 10 points, including four of the team’s nine blocks.

Earlier, Far Eastern U blew a 2-0 set lead but hung tough in the deciding frame to hack out a thrilling 25-22, 25-13, 20-25, 12-25, 15-13 victory over San Sebastian to likewise gain the headstart in their separate best-of-three series for third.

Guest player Rachel Anne Daquis scored 29 hits, including six blocks, while Cherry Vivas, Monique Tiangco and Shaira Gonzalez added 18, 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lady Tams, who looked headed for a sweep but wavered in the face of the Lady Stags’ fightback.

The Tams go for the clincher tomorrow in what could be their best-ever finish in the league backed by Accel, Mikasa, Mighty Bond and OraCare.

San Sebastian, swept by Adamson in their Final Four duel, bounced back with two convincing wins in the third and fourth sets but failed to complete its big comeback in a down-to-the-wire finish.

Jinni Mondejar led the Lady Stags with 20 hits while Joy Benito had 19 points and Melissa Mirasol and Dafna Robinos added 11 points apiece for the first conference runners-up.

Meanwhile, the UST-Adamson duel will be shown on NBN-4 starting at 2 p.m. today.