UAAP: Adamson soars to share of second by sweeping Ateneo

MANILA -- The Adamson Lady Falcons made it three wins in a row by sweeping the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 25-18, 25-23, 25-19, in the UAAP Season 85 women's volleyball tournament on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena.

The Lady Falcons improved to 4-1, putting them at joint second along with defending champion National University. Ateneo, meanwhile, fell to a third straight loss for a 1-4 card.

Trisha Tubu torched the Blue Eagles for 23 points on 22 kills, while Kate Santiago added 11 points, all on attacks. The Lady Falcons had a 51-38 advantage in attacks against Ateneo in the match.

"Yung pina-practice namin, yung pinag-uusapan namin nae-execute ng mga players kaya masaya kami doon," said Adamson head coach Jerry Yee.

After a comfortable win in the opener, the Lady Falcons needed to show their poise in the next two frames in order to close out the Blue Eagles.

They recovered from a slim deficit in Set 2 as Tubu went blow-for-blow with Ateneo's Faith Nisperos, before back-to-back hits by Lucille Almonte and Lorene Toring put the Lady Falcons ahead for good, 23-21.

A net touch called on Toring gave Ateneo some life, but she made up for her error with a running attack in the next rally to put Adamson at set point, 24-22. Vanie Gandler's crosscourt attack momentarily halted the Lady Falcons' march, but Santiago ended Ateneo's chances with a down-the-line hit.

The Lady Falcons pulled away late in Set 3, with Ateneo not helping their cause as errors by Nisperos and Gandler gave adamson a 24-17 cushion. The Blue Eagles managed to save two match points after an attack error by Santiago and a block by Joan Narit, but Santiago closed them out with an off-the-block hit

Nisperos was the lone player in double-digits for Ateneo with 17 points.

UAAP Season 85 is streaming on iWantTFC every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, available for Premium users outside the Philippines.