Lady Falcons, Eagles rap rivals, near finals

Manila, Philippines - Adamson flashed its championship form and endgame brilliance as it swept University of St. La Salle-Bacolod, 25-19, 25-23, 25-22, yesterday to move a win away from clinching a second straight finals appearance in the Shakey’s V-League at The Arena in San Juan.

Guest player Nerissa Bautista combined with mainstay Angela Benting as they peppered USLS defense with crisp kills from set and quick plays that produced 29 attacks and carried the Lady Falcons to the 69-minute victory for the headstart in their best-of-three semifinal series.

The Falcons, chasing a second straight championship after ruling last year’s second conference, also bucked the Michelle Laborte’s mediocre outing and the presence of USLS’s new reinforcements in UST star Aiza Maizo and Jovelyn Gonzaga.

“Mic-Mic (Laborte) struggled in offense but played solid in defense,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante, referring to her other guest player, who delivered four blocks with only three hits.

Maizo, a one-time MVP who helped lead UST to six titles in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision, tossed in seven hits while Gonzaga, a beach volley standout, had six points as the duo struggled in their first game with the Stingers.

“(Setter) April (Hingpit) isn’t yet familiar with Aiza’s attacking game so we knew how to defend her,” said Pante.

With Maizo struggling, Kay Aplasca emerged as the lone player to turn in double-digit score for USLS with 12 points with Hingpit matching Maizo’s output.

Ateneo recovered from a first-set setback as it dominated National U in the next two frames before holding off the Lady Bulldogs in the fourth for a 25-27, 25-14, 25-10, 25-19 victory in their own side of the semis duel.

Alyssa Valdez rammed in 21 kills and finished with a game-high 25-point output and drew a solid offensive game from Fille Cainglet, who unloaded 14 attacks for an 18-point production as the Lady Eagles, seeking a breakthrough victory in the league, zeroed in on their second championship appearance after losing the 2008 first conference crown to the Lady Falcons.

Thai Kesinee Lithawat anchored Ateneo’s net defense with four blocks and wound up with 18 points while Jamenea Ferrer, Marie de Jesus, Gretchen Ho, Aerieal Patnongon and Beatriz Tan combined for 15 points.

On its first-ever Final Four appearance, the Lady Bulldogs showed a lot of promise with a big first set win but they crumbled in the next two in the face of the Eagles’ fiery attack then failed to hang on in the fourth, enabling Ateneo to complete the victory in one hour and 31 minutes.

With Maizo a new option in offense, Patty Orendain, the league’s top scorer, could only churn out a six-point performance, her lowest in the league backed by Accel and Mikasa.

The Lady Stingers actually wrested a 23-21 lead in the second frame on a service by Aplasca but the Falcons racked up for straight points, capped by Bautista’s kill.

The Bacolod-based squad again took the lead at 18-15 in the third courtesy of Mary Catherine Abayon but Bautista, Benting and Pau Soriano combined for seven points to shove Adamson to a 22-20 lead.

USLS scored a hit and Maizo came through with a block to tie it at 22 but Soriano delivered a hit to break the deadlock and Bautista finished off the Stingers with a spike after Aplasca’s attack went wide.