Tigresses down Lady Falcons, share lead

MANILA, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas held Adamson’s top hitter Rissa Jane Laguilles to five hits and went on to carve out a 25-17, 21-25, 25-19, 25-19 victory late Thursday to gain a share of the lead with San Sebastian in the quarterfinal round of the Shakey’s V-League at The Arena in San Juan.

The Tigresses, with Aiza Maizo on the attack, unloaded four unanswered points in the fourth set to shatter an 11-all count then pounced on the Lady Falcons erratic game to pound out the victory in 1:39.

It was UST’s second straight win as it tied SSC in the lead in the single round phase of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

The Lady Stags swept the provincial teams in Univ. of St. La Salle-Bacolod and Univ. of San Jose-Recoletos to launch their bid for a second straight championship after ruling last year’s second conference.

The defending champion Lady Falcons slid to a tie with USLS-Bacolod with 0-1 cards.

Adamson fought back last at 15-16 on an Angela Benting attack but the Lady Falcons committed too many errors, enabling the Tigresses to pick up big points with their net defense en route to the victory.

“Our blocking was good and we really put our focus on Laguilles,” said UST coach Cesael delos Santos.

Michelle Carolino led UST with 18 points, including three blocks, while Mary Jean Balse and Maiza chipped in 16 hits apiece.

Using their height advantage to the hilt, the Tigresses finished with 13 blocks, including four from Maizo, as against the Lady Falcons’ four.

Benting came up with 15 hits while reigning MVP Nerissa Bautista and Jill Gustilo wound up with 13 points apiece for Adamson.