Tigresses halt Archers run; Falcons score

University of Santo Tomas foiled La Salle’s outright Final Four bid with a thrilling five-set win yesterday, boosting its own semis drive in the Shakey’s V-League second conference at The Arena in San Juan.

Alumna Venus Bernal uncorked a powerful smash off Denise Tan’s feed that pierced through La Salle’s defenders as UST snatched a tough 17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 16-14 win to join San Sebastian and Far Eastern U in third place with 2-1 marks.

“We didn’t think that La Salle has won four straight games. We just stayed focused and believed in ourselves. We always believe that we can beat them,” said UST coach Cesael delos Santos after the two-hour encounter.

The loss stalled La Salle’s march to the semis round as the Lady Archers dropped to 4-1, just a game ahead of Adamson, which earlier trounced Ateneo, 25-22, 15-25, 25-23, 25-21, for its third win in four starts.

Guest player Mary Jean Balse and Bernal combined for 39 hits while rookie Judy Ann Caballejo added 10 points for the Tigresses, who with the Lady Archers have won three crowns each in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Manilla Santos took charge for La Salle with 22 hits while Jacqueline Alarca made 19 points, including five blocks.

Earlier, the Lady Falcons bounced back from a listless second set performance with a superb floor defense in the last two frames to clinch the victory, their third straight after dropping a thrilling five-setter to the Far Eastern U Lady Tams last Oct. 19.

“Discipline, that’s the key in this win,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante, whose Lady Falcons reasserted their mastery over the Lady Eagles, whom they swept to rule the first conference of the league organized by Sports Vision last June.

The loss, Ateneo’s third against a win, dampened the first conference runner-up’s semifinal bid with three games left in the single round-robin elims.

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

Meanwhile, the Ateneo-Adamson game will be telecast on NBN-4 starting at 2 p.m. today.