La Salle, UST duel for volleyball title

Source mb.com.ph
By JONAS TERRADO
February 21, 2010, 4:53pm
Old rivals La Salle and University of Santo Tomas forged a title showdown after hurdling separate Final Four opponents on Saturday in the 72nd UAAP women's volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Archers, seeking a second straight crown, came back from a first set loss to oust the Adamson Lady Falcons, 16-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-22, while the Tigresses easily trounced the Ateneo Lady Eagles, 25-12, 25-23, 25-20, for their first finals appearance since winning the title in 2007.

La Salle and UST, who developed a bitter rivalry when they met three straight times in the finals of the Shakey’s V-League from 2004-2005, will start their best-of-three duel on Wednesday.

Five La Salle spikers scored in double figures with Jacqueline Alarca and Charleen Cruz notching 17 and 14 points, respectively. Stephanie Mercado and rookie Abigail Marano added 12 points each.

UST, for its part, leaned on lefty Aiza Maizo and power-hitting Angeli Tabaquero with 16 and 15 points, respectively, as the España-based tossers extended their winning run to 10 games.

Both teams split their first two meetings this season.

La Salle won, 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11, on Dec. 8 as Mercado fired a season-high 28 points.

UST exacted revenge on Valentine’s Day, rallying for a 23-25, 25-20, 26-28, 25-16, 15-12 victory that denied La Salle a rare 14-0 record in the elimination round.

La Salle coach Coach Ramil de Jesus will try to lead his Lady Archers to a sixth title in the last eight years while mentor Shaq delos Santos will try to give the Lady Tigresses a crown since replacing a sick August Santamaria two years ago.