Shakey’s V-League semis: NU sweeps UST sans Urdas, enters finals; Pons, FEU forces Game 3 vs. Adamson

SEMIFINAL GAME ON THURSDAY—Game #3 of Best-Of-Three Series (May 15th at The Arena, San Juan City)

4:00PM Adamson (1-1) vs. FEU (1-1)

THE ARENA, San Juan City—Despite receiving the grim news that star utility spiker Aiko Urdas is lost for the season, the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs made short work of six-time titlists the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 to advance anew to the finals while a determined Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws did not let the debacle of their heartbreaking Game 1 loss haunt them as they defeated the Adamson University Lady Falcons 25-22, 25-23, 26-24 to force a sudden-death tiff for the second finals berth in the ongoing Shakey’s V-League semifinal round here.

Urdas, one of the leading candidates for the league’s Best Spiker award, was diagnosed with a partial tear in her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will have season-ending surgery that may sideline the 19-year-old “Supernatural” for at least six months; putting her UAAP Season 77 stint in jeopardy. Urdas landed awkwardly after a successful spike in Game 1 and had to be helped off the floor. Doctors confirmed the extent of the injury prior to Game 2.

NU gave Urdas’ spot to veteran winger Rizza Jane Mandapat while the rest of the team stepped up to compensate for the loss of one of its most talented attackers.

Ironically for UST, they were also without their starting utility spiker as Mela Tunay could not wriggle out of her On the Job Training (OJT) under broadcast giant ABS-CBN and was replaced in the starting line-up by little used Jem Gutierrez.

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It was immediately evident that Lady Bulldogs’ guest setter Rubie de Leon (a UST alumna) was going to exploit the Tigresses disadvantages in terms of height as she consistently fed the towering Santiago sisters with the intention of pounding UST’s frontline defenses into submission. Ria Meneses—the only six-footer in the Tigresses’ roster—was infiltrated time and time again and could only provide token resistance to the aggressive attacks mounted by Din-Din and Jaja Santiago, who both came away with a game-high fourteen points.

UST’s offense was also left wanting as openers Pam Lastimosa and Ennajie Laure were constantly checked at the net allowing time for the excellent floor defenses of the Lady Bulldogs to recycle for their offense.

The Tigresses raced to early leads in all three sets, but were somehow derailed at the midway point and just could not find a steady groove, despite alumna Rhea Dimaculangan’s near-impeccable serving.

It was the first time all season that NU were able to defeat the Tigresses in straight sets and will now be waiting for the victor for the FEU-Adamson tilt on Thursday (May 15th) to see who they defend their championship against. The Best-Of-Three final series begins on Sunday, May 18th, still here at The Arena.

In the second game, the Lady Tamaraws once again claimed the first two sets and found themselves in a similar situation in the third canto, leading 24-22 and at matchpoint anew against Adamson. In Game 1, the Lady Falcons managed to squirm out of that deficit and win the third set. They also went on to win the match. It was a devastating way to lose after showing dominance throught more than half the match, but FEU had to come into the elimination encounter with almost no memory of the fate that befell them in Game 1.

FEU opened the match with a higher intensity than it showed in Game 1 were they were more mechanical in executing their plays. Incoming sophomore Bernadeth Pons waxed hot early and set the bar high for the Lady Falcon defenders to adjust to. Pons used a variety of methods to get her points; spikes, blocks and even serves as she displayed the full package of her arsenal in giving the Lady Tams the first two sets.

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Former queen Tamaraw Rachel Anne Daquis let her innate leadership guide the Morayta lasses as she concentrated more on patrolling the floor allowing Best Setter shoo-in Yna Papa all the clean opportunities to find her regular targets in Pons, middle-hitter Remy Palma and 6’1” project Genevieve Casugod. Reigning Shakey’s V-League Open Conference MVP Jovelyn Gonzaga also gave support on both ends and punctuated the complete team effort eked out by the Lady Tamaraws.

The Lady Falcons, however, were their usual pesky selves all throughout.

Veteran Thai import Patcharee Saengmuang and wunderkind Sheila “Bangnita” Pineda waged war against the frontline defenders of FEU while assistant coach-turned-guest player Pau Soriano once again controlled the middle for Adamson. May Macatuno bounced back from an early rut in Game 1 and was orchestrating almost flawlessly, expect for one key ingredient that was blatantly missing in the Lady Falcons’ game: their floor defenses were running a notch low.

This was evident when Pons and Palma were able to get crucial points on drop shots that would normally be easy picking for the floor patrollers, led by budding libero Jellie Tempiatura. It did not work in the first two sets as once again Adamson surrendered them to the Lady Tamaraws.

In the third set, however, history looked to repeat itself.

Saengmuang and Soriano got the key stops and delivered the points to allow the Lady Falcons to pull abreast at 24-24. FEU Head Coach Shaq de los Santos sued for time and did something what I thought was interesting: he reminded the girls of the Game 1 horror.

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FEU came into the contest with amnesia on their agenda so as to focus on just the match at hand. De los Santos fuelled the opposite—and it worked.

In the ensuing play, with all the FEU wingers covered, Papa set up an unmolested Casugod for the go ahead point 25-24 and a hitting error against Pineda gave the triumph to the Lady Tamaraws who incidentally snap the seven game winning streak of Adamson and create a chance for them to enter their first ever finals appearance with another win against the Lady Falcons on Thursday. That winner-moves-on clash is slated for 4:00PM.

Pons—feted as Player of the Game—led FEU with a game-high sixteen markers while Daquis and Gonzaga chipped-in fifteen and fourteen points, respectively. Pineda led Adamson with fifteen points in their first setback since March 23rd.

I’m quite sure no less than fireworks will be on the menu for that rubber-match on Thursday. Sev Sarmenta and Mozzy Ravena will be tasked to do the broadcasting chores of that one, while I do announcing duties for Game 4 of the PBA Commissioners Cup finals at the PhilSports Arena on the same day. However, the PBA tiff is still at 8:00PM, so I may just drop in before heading to the ULTRA.

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So who do you guys pick? FEU or Adamson? Why? Fire away.

BOXSCORES:

National University def. University of Santo Tomas—25-21, 25-22, 25-19; wins series, 2-0

NU—D. Santiago 14, J. Santiago 14, Aganon 12, Pablo 9, R. de Leon 6, Mandapat 6, Reyes (L) 0, Perez 0.

UST—Lastimosa 11, Laure 10, Dimaculangan 6, J. de Leon 5, Meneses 5, Gutierrez 3, Cortez 1, Dusaran (L) 0, Rasmo (L) 0, Cabanos 0, Depante 0.

Far Eastern University def. Adamson University—25-22, 25-23, 26-24; series tied, 1-1

FEU—Pons 16, Daquis 15, Gonzaga 14, Palma 9, Casugod 4, Papa 2, Agno (L) 0, Dionela 0, Simborio 0.

AdU—Pineda 15, Saengmuang 12, Soriano 10, Paat 8, Villanueva 5, Macatuno 2, Tempiatura (L) 0, Listana (L) 0, Cortel 0, Lebumfacil 0, Alkuino 0, Emnas 0.

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com