Lady Maroons, Tams upend fancied rivals, seal title clash

MANILA, Philippines — University of the Philippines showed resolve against every Adamson fightback as the Lady Maroons shocked the top seeded Lady Falcons anew, 25-19, 29-27, 20-25, 25-20, to punch their ticket to the finals in the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Collegiate Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Maroons blew five-, six-point leads in the first two sets but recovered each time then fought back from a third set defeat and a sloppy start in the fourth (1-5) with a decisive 6-2 finish to earn a crack at the crown.

Fourth-seeded UP thus rebounded in style from a stinging Game Two loss, 23-25, 19-25, 21-25, to ease out the No. 1 Lady Falcons, who struggled in the semis after an impressive 7-0 roll in the eliminations.

Third-seeded Far Eastern U conceded the first set but swept the next three as it frustrated No. 2 UST, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-17, to secure the other finals seat and complete the lower seeded teams’ surge in the Final Four.

Game One of the best-of-three finals is set Sunday.

The Lady Tamaraws dominated to pull level in the second then overhauled a 19-20 deficit in the third on a 6-2 finishing kick before averting a near-collapse in the fourth on another strong 7-1 windup to follow up on their Game Two win.

Jerilli Malabanan dropped 13 points, Kyle Negrito and Lycha Ebon each scored 12 while Heather Guino-o had 11 markers for the Lady Tamaraws.

Negrito also orchestrated their offense with 22 excellent sets.

“In Saturday’s game, we did not play well. We lost but we realized one thing, we were putting ourselves under pressure. I told the players to not put themselves under pressure and it really worked. It wasn’t about skills, it wasn’t about how strong or fast our team was. It was just about mental strength,” said UP coach Godfrey Okumu.

Isa Molde sizzled with 23 attacks while flexing her muscles at the net for four kill blocks to post a game-high 27-point output, Marian Buitre came through with 19 points highlighted by seven blocks and the match-clinching hit while dishing out 18 digs.