Adamson drops Arellano, barges into Final Four of Shakey’s Super League preseason tourney

Games On Saturday11 a.m. — CSB vs UST2 p.m. — UE vs AU

ADAMSON cruised to the Final Four with an easy 25-21, 25-18, 25-15 win over Arellano University (AU) in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship quarterfinals over the weekend at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

All players, except for the liberos, racked up the points in a balanced attack as the Lady Falcons maximized their win-once bonus to make a return semifinal trip after a bronze-medal finish in the inaugural season.

This time, the Lady Falcons found no trouble replicating their feat in only 83 minutes with 13 players scoring led by Maria Rochelle Lalongisip’s eight points.

Ayesha Juegos, Jen Villegas and Antonette Adolfo chipped in seven points each, skipper Lucille Almonte had five while Lorence Toring and Jimy Jean Jamili added five points apiece.

“We’re so happy and grateful na nakapasok po kami sa semis. Nakabawi po kami at nabigay po namin iyung best as a team. Ngayon, mas naibigay po namin ‘yung laro namin,” said Ms. Juegos, who claimed the Player of the Game honors on five hits and two aces.

The Lady Falcons will face reigning champion and undefeated National U, which also made short work of University of the East (UE) with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 win in the other quarterfinal pairing.

Also barging into the Final Four was Far Eastern University after trouncing Ateneo, 25-19, 25-18, 25-18, to arrange a knockout semifinals against either NCAA champion College of St. Benilde (CSB) or University of Santo Tomas (UST).

St. Benilde forced a deciding game against UST, which enjoyed a twice-to-beat advantage, in their quarterfinal duel after a thrilling 25-22, 23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-11 win.

The rubber match is set for Saturday at the same venue to complete the Final Four cast of SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.

UE and Arellano, as well as Ateneo against the loser between St. Benilde and UST, will tussle in the classification matches for 5th-8th spots before the semis and the best-of-three finals. — John Bryan Ulanday