In a season filled with disappointment, the Adamson University Lady Falcons put a positive end to their UAAP Season 81 campaign, stunning the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Lady Falcons earned just their second win in 14 matches, still keeping them at the bottom of the standings. Once at the top of the standings, the Lady Maroons slumped to 6-8, good for fifth place.
Adamson started strong, pounding UP with an inescapable 21-14 blitz in the first set.
Holding a 24-20 lead in the second set, the Lady Falcons nearly collapsed and allowed UP to come within one, 24-23, before graduating middle blocker Joy Dacoron ended the set with a running attack.
The third set was close until UP fully fell apart and allowed Adamson to go on a 7-3 run to close their season.
“Sobrang saya talaga dahil sa wakas, nasunod na ‘yung sistema. ‘Yung malalim na pagsunod sa coach, nandoon talaga,” said Adamson head coach Onyok Getigan, who took over for Airess Padda four matches into the season.
“Lahat nagstep-up. Lahat nagbigay ng puntos, maganda ‘yung kinalabasan,” he added.
Sophomore Chiara Permentilla managed a season-high 16 points. Dacoron and Eli Soyud, who each played their final UAAP match, tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Tots Carlos and Isa Molde led UP with 11 and 10 points, respectively. In their final game for UP, Ayel Estrañero and Marian Buitre started the match. Estrañero had 20 excellent sets while Buitre contributed four points.
The Scores
AdU (3) – Permentilla 16, Dacoron 11, Flora 10, Soyud 10, Igao 4, Perez 3, Ave 1, Genesis 1, Yandoc 1, Infante 0, Ponce (L)
UP (0) – Carlos 13, Molde 10, Buitre 4, Bernardo 2, Layug 2, Ramos 2, Rosier 2, Estrañero 1, Dorog (L)
