Lady Falcons, Tigresses force PVL ‘rubber’

Games Sunday

9 a.m. – Adamson vs St. Benilde

11 a.m. – UST vs Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines — Adamson and UST got back at St. Benilde and Ateneo, respectively, in a pair of thrillers that set up sudden deaths for the championship berths in the PVL Collegiate Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan last Thursday.

Trisha Genesis blasted in 21 kills for 24 points, including key hits in the decider, while coming through with 15 excellent receptions as the Lady Falcons bounced back from a shock five-set defeat in Game One to foil the Lady Blazers, 25-12, 21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-11, in their best-of-three series.

Like the Lady Falcons, the Tigresses rallied from a set down and repulsed the Lady Eagles, 24-26, 25-18, 25-17, 25-17, to stay in the title hunt.

The four teams dispute the finals seats on Sunday.

Down 6-8 in the fifth, the Lady Falcons went to Genesis, who came through with back-to-back blows, keying a decisive 7-1 Adamson attack capped by her second-to-last last kill that made it 13-9.

Gayle Pascual countered with a cross-court hammer but Grace Toring pounced on a free ball to put Adamson at match point before Genesis clinched it for the Lady Falcons with another kill.

Lucille Almonte and Rizza Cruz backed Genesis with 12 markers apiece with the former adding 10 excellent receptions.

Behind the offensive brilliance of the UST troika of Janna Torres, Imee Hernandez, and Eya Laure, the Tigresses rebounded strong and dominated the second to fourth sets to force a sudden death in their side of the semis series.

Torres hammered in 14 points built on 10 attacks and three kill blocks while Hernandez backed her up with 10 hits and an ace to finish with 11 markers.

Laure, on the other hand, also put on a 10-point performance and finished with 14 excellent digs and four excellent receptions.

Vanie Gandler topped the scoring charts with 15 markers anchored on 13 attacks, to go along with 16 excellent receptions for Ateneo, which also got 12 points from Faith Nisperos and 11 hits apiece from Erika Raagas and Jules Samonte.