Lady Falcons move to joint 2nd

MANILA, Philippines - Adamson succeeded where four other teams had failed, beating fancied San Sebastian-Excelroof with a brilliant fifth set performance, 16-25, 26-24, 25-23, 16-25, 15-10, to wheel back into contention in the Shakey’s V-League Season 7 second conference at The Arena in San Juan late Thursday.

Outhit but not outfought, the Lady Falcons poured it all out in the decider behind Nerissa Bautista and Angela Benting and a crew that refused to be intimidated by their rivals’ power, snatching the morale-boosting victory in one-hour and 46 minutes.

It was Adamson’s third win against two losses as it tied Lyceum and Far Eastern U in second while stalling SSC’s march to the quarterfinal round of the season-ending conference sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

The Lady Stags, who won their first four games via sweep, still led the eight-team field with a 4-1 and should be a cinch for one of the QF berths.

SSC unloaded 63 kills, including 25 from the power-hitting Thai ace Jeng Bualee, but Adamson, which delivered 43 attacks, played with more spunk in the fifth, catching the Lady Stags off-guard with their solid offense and gritty net defense.

The Falcons came through with 14 blocks, including five and four from Michelle Laborte and Pau Soriano as against the Lady Stags’ four.

Bautista, a former MVP in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Excelroof, finished with 21 hits while Benting added 13 and Laborte chipped in 11 points.

Soriano ended up with nine points while Gail Martin added six for the Lady Falcons, who will try to seal a quarter berth against the struggling St. Benilde Blazers on Sunday.

Bualee and fellow guest player Suzanne Roces combined for 47 hits while Joy Benito and Elaine Cruz pooled 24 points to underscore SSC-Excelroof’s solid attack. But the Lady Stags just couldn’t sustain the momentum of their big four-set win in the face of the Falcons’ determined stand.