Adamson soars to solo second in women's volleyball
By Anthony Divinagracia
21 December 2009 09:48 AM
Manila, Philippines - Adamson University and Far Eastern University greeted the Christmas break on a triumphant mood as they walloped separate opponents yesterday to enhance their respective campaigns in the 72nd UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Falcons romped to solo second with a methodical 25-7, 25-16, 25-12 pounding of a listless University of the East (UE) while the Lady Tamaraws joined UST and Ateneo at third place with identical 3-2 cards after trouncing National University (NU), 25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16.
Cherry Mae Vivas again dished out another virtuoso performance, tallying 23 points to lead FEU which hardly missed the services of the injured Shaira Gonzales as Mary Rose Cabanag and Monique Tiangco ably filled her offensive shoes throughout the one hour, 42-minute encounter.
Cabanag tallied 17 markers while Tiangco added 16 to help FEU arrest its third-set meltdown and compensate for the Lady Tamaraws’ woeful 0-of-47 blocking clip, a far cry from the six denials - four courtesy of Maricar Nepomuceno - of the relatively smaller NU frontline.
After noosing NU in the first two sets, FEU suddenly relaxed its guard, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to erase a 5-8 deficit and battle the Lady Tamaraws on even terms midway in the third canto.
A block and a centercourt smash by Nepomuceno gave NU the lead, 20-18, before FEU managed to draw level on Vivas’ back-to-back kills. But an open hit by Nepomuceno and a pair of Mervic Mangui spikes restored NU’s advantage to 23-20.
FEU had a chance to inch closer after Cabanag’s kill made it 21-23. But a Vivas attempt sailed wide at the turn, pushing NU at set point before Mangui finalized the count with an unmolested open kill.
Refusing to go the distance with NU, the Lady Tamaraws built an early 16-10 margin on the combined efforts of Vivas, Tiangco and Cabanag. A quick and placement shot by Mangui shoved NU within, 15-19. But that proved to be the Lady Bulldogs’ last show of force as Cabanag, Tiangco and Vivas conspired in a back-breaking 6-1 salvo to ice the game.
Mangui bannered NU from the offensive end, scoring 18 points with 15 attacks while Nepomuceno chipped in 13, including nine attacks.
Adamson effectively neutralized the attacking duo of Mary Cristel Rosale and Leuseht Dawis, who only mustered a lowly total of 11 points for the Amazons.
So lousy was the UE defense that the Amazons were only able to register 18 excellent digs compared to the Lady Tamaraws’ 51.
The Lady Falcons set the tone of the rout midway in the first set as Benting and Gustillo mercilessly puncture the UE defense with a bevy of open hits, crosscourt attacks, blocks and drop balls to give Adamson a whopping 21-6 advantage.
Benting then teamed up with center spiker Pau Soriano in the second frame to keep the Lady Falcons soaring, 22-10.
With the Lady Falcons proving too much for the Amazons both offensively and defensively, Adamson coach Dulce Pante comfortably shuffled her rotation, throwing a mix of starters and reserves into the fray heading into the last set.
Adamson sat on a 12-6 cushion despite resting Benting, Lourdes Patillano and Angelica Quinlog and fielding second-stringers Lorraine Noviza and Jenalyn Ortega to finish the game.
Soriano led Adamson with 15 points while Benting and Gustillo added 14 and 11, respectively.
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