Adamson Falcons try to fly back into contention

MANILA, Philippines – Defending champion Adamson tries to recover from its setback to arch rival University of Santo Tomas the last time out as it plays winless Lyceum in the sixth Shakey’s V-League at The Arena in San Juan City today.

The Lady Falcons opened their title-retention bid with an impressive victory over the Ateneo-OraCare side but were stopped on their tracks by the Tigresses, who essayed a four-set win late Thursday to catch the Far Eastern U Lady Tams at the helm with 2-0 cards.

But the San Marcelino-based squad will be squaring it off with Lyceum in the 2 p.m. opener without guest player and reigning MVP Nerissa Bautista, who is currently playing in an international beach volley tournament in Vietnam.

That should give the Lady Pirates some push as they seek to bounce back from back-to-back setbacks and stay in hunt for one of the semifinal berths in the single round elims phase of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

St. Benilde, meanwhile, hopes to come up with a big follow up to its five-set win over newcomer University of the Philippines last Thursday although the Lady Blazers will have to contend with a San Sebastian side raring to strike back from an opening game loss to UST.

Gametime is set at 4 p.m.

The Adamson-UP match will be shown on NBN-4 starting at 2 p.m. tomorrow while the SSC-St. Benilde duel will be aired Tuesday. For details in the league backed by Accel, Mikasa and OraCare, log on to www.v-league.ph.

CSB coach Thelma Barina-Rojas hopes to draw the best again from guest player Maureen Penetrante and mainstays Cindy Velasquez, Giza Yumang, Joy Mulingtapang, Zharmaine Velez and Kara Agero as they go up against a team teeming with talent.

That includes the core of last conference’s champion team headed by Suzanne Roces, Rysabelle Devanadera, Charisse Ancheta, Analyn Benito, Margarita Pepito and Laurence Ann Latigay.