Adamson stuns La Salle in Game 1

MANILA, Philippines —  Adamson pulled off a mammoth upset of reigning UAAP champion La Salle, 22-25, 25-17, 17-25, 27-25, 16-14, in Game 1 yesterday and moved on the cusp of ruling the first Shakey’s Super League (SSL) National Invitationals at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Seasoned spiker Lucille Almonte and super rookie Red Bascon joined forces in the end game as the Lady Falcons completed an epic comeback win to go 1-0 against their fancied counterparts in the short best-of-three showdown.

Game 2 will be on Saturday at the same venue.

Almonte fired 24 points on 20 hits, three aces and a block while Bascon chipped in seven, including the last two points to show the way for Adamson, which now sports a pretty chance to cap a stunning title run.

“Lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila, may tiwala ako sa kanila. Hindi pa tapos ang laban. Kahit down big kami sa fourth set, sabi ko isa-isahin natin. Tyagain natin. Hindi pa tayo talo,” said coach JP Yude as Ayesha Juegos (13), Sharya Ancheta (10) and Lorene Toring (10) added help in the big win.

“Sabi ko nga before, lagi pag La Salle kalaban parang dehado agad tayo. Ngayon, papagurin na natin. Kailangan maging palaban tayo kung gusto nating manalo,” he added.

The Lady Falcons did, erasing a massive 11-20 deficit in the fourth set for a thrilling 27-25 win that served as their momentum to escape the Lady Spikers in the clincher behind Bascon’s heroics.

Earlier, the vengeful University of Santo Tomas vented its ire on the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, 25-15, 25-22, 25-15, for a similar 1-0 lead in their bronze-medal showdown.

Regina Jurado (19) and Angeline Poyos (13) once again led from the front as the Golden Tigresses needed 77 minutes to bounce back from their semifinal defeat against La Salle.