Lady Eagles, Falcons seek title showdown

Manila, Philippines - Fancied Ateneo and Adamson try to score a repeat over their respective rivals today and arrange a keenly awaited showdown for the eighth Shakey’s V-League first conference crown at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Eagles and the Falcons set out as the slight favorites against the National U Bulldogs and the Univ. of St. La Salle-Bacolod Stingers, respectively, with another pair of victories lining up the two teams for a repeat of their 2008 first conference title duel won by Adamson.

“We really want to finish this series,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante, whose wards pulled off a 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 win over the Stingers in the opener of their best-of-three Final Four series last Thursday. “There would be no major adjustments except for Mic-Mic (Laborte) to polish her spikes.”

Laborte, one of the team’s top hitters, made just eight points, including two blocks, the first time out but the Lady Falcons drew a superb attacking game from former two-time MVP Nerissa Bautista, who uncorked a season-high tying 29 points.

Gametime is set at 2 p.m. with the Lady Stingers vowing to force a rubber match for one of the finals berths in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and backed by Accel and Mikasa.

Live streaming of the games can be viewed on www.v-league.ph, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

New reinforcements Aiza Maizo and Jovelyn Gonzaga also hope to complement better with the USLS mainstays this time after struggling with the team’s set plays anchored on April Hingpit where they combined for only 13 hits in the series’ opener.

Also expected to come out strong for USLS today is Patty Orendain, the league’s leading scorer who was held to a paltry six-point output last Thursday.

Equally interesting is the 4 p.m. duel between Ateneo and National U with the Loyola-based squad looking for a repeat of their 25-27, 25-14, 25-10, 25-19, victory in Game One of their own side of the semis playoff.

“The Lady Bulldogs are resilient, they are capable of coming back in this series,” said Ateneo rookie mentor and former star Charo Soriano, who will pin her hopes on the explosive duo of Thai import Lithawat Kesinee and guest player Alyssa Valdez.

But the Bulldogs are raring to get even with the Eagles with Dindin Santiago, Cherry Vivas and Monique Tiangco expected to pour it all out in a bid to stay in the hunt for a first-ever championship.