WHEN SUPERSENIOR Bea Pascual leaped to spike the ball, with her right arm stretched as far as it could, it looked like she would reach the ball for a play set by Jem Ferrer. But as soon as she landed on her feet, Adamson had already scored.
It was that kind of a day for the Lady Spikers, who struggled on both ends of the floor on February 13, at the San Juan Arena.
Coach Roger Gorayeb played his starting six, subbing rookie Denn Lazaro for either Pascual or Angeline Gervacio in between timeouts. The Adamson defense were alert from the get-go; Adamson’s Angela Benting and Angelica Quinlog set up solid blocking defences that prevented Ateneo from getting anything consistent going for them, as they scrambled for points.
Fille Cainglet’s trademark spikes from the left and right side of the court were nullified by Adamson blockers strategically set in her sweet spots. While Ateneo struggled to find rhythm, Adamson had already found theirs, getting contributions from Benting, Pau Soriano and Luisa Zapanta en route to a 25-14 first set finish.
The second set was no different. Adamson easily got a 5-2 headstart due to Lady Spikers’ shaky defense.
At one point, the margin had ballooned to 10 points, and Coach Gorayeb inserted seldom-used reserve Bea Tan to rest Pascual. After Ferrer, Ho and Geravacio scored on a furry of spikes and digs, the Lady Spikers found some rhythm and cut the lead to three. But they could not hold down the Adamson offense as the Lady Falcons finished the set 25-21.
In the third set Adamson looked determined to put the game away, going on a 6-1 run. Coach Goraybe substituted reserve Natasha Faustino for the frustrated Jem Ferrer.
Ateneo could not whittle the lead down to three points, and all eyes were on Adamson, despite the early crowd support given to the Lady Spikers from La Salle and UST fans alike. Things got so bad that crowd favorite Jenalyn Ortega was given minutes just before the set points was scored. The set ended 26-15.
This Sunday was also a playoff double-header, with all four teams facing the opponents they did not face last Sunday. The Ateneo-Adamson game was a prelude to a bigger match between the top two seeds, De La Salle University and the University of Sto. Tomas.
On one hand, Adamson escaped the arduous task of facing the top-seeded De La Salle Lady Spikers, who have swept both Ateneo and Adamson. Ateneo, on the other hand, slimmed its chancies of surviving the Final Four by dropping to fourth place. Had they kept their top three berth, they would have faced the UST Growling Tigresses, with whom they have split the season series.
Benting filled the offensive stat sheet for Adamson, scoring 14 points off spikes, four off blocks, and a service point. Backing her was Pau Soriano, who had a stellar offensive game with 12 points, 11 off spikes. Cainglet and Pascual scored most off Ateneo’s markers with nine apiece.
SET SCORES: 25-14, 25-21, 25-16
