Adamson cruised to the Final Four with an easy 25-21, 25-18, 25-15 win over Arellano in the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship quarterfinals over the weekend at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
All players, except for the liberos, racked up the scoring board in a scattered attack as the Lady Falcons maximized their win-once bonus to make a return semifinal trip in the SSL backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers Inc.
Adamson finished third in the inaugural season and found no trouble replicating its 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 that we made the semis. At least we were able to make up and gave our best as a team. We promise to work harder and give everything we got,” said 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 University, which also made short work of the University of the East 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 de Manila University, 25-19, 25-18, 25-18, to arrange a knockout semifinal match against either National Collegiate Athletic Association champion College of Saint Benilde or University of Santo Tomas.
Saint Benilde forced a deciding game against UST, equipped with a twice-to-beat advantage, in their quarterfinal duel after a thrilling 25-22, 23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-11 win.