Lady Maroons grazed by Adamson falcons; Slot in the final four still elusive

Lady Maroons grazed by Adamson falcons

Slot in the final four still elusive

ni Richard Jacob Dy

Amid hopes to clinch an elusive final four slot for the 71st Season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, the UP Lady Maroons volleyball team suffered their fifth loss to the Adamson University Lady Falcons before a largely UP crowd at The Arena in San Juan on January 11.

The Lady Maroons, who defeated frontrunner University of Santo Tomas Tigresses in their last game, stunned the crowd with dinks and strong spikes, but the Lady Falcons forbade a UP lead with impressive switches and streak of attacks ending the first round with 17 for Lady Maroons and 25 for Lady Falcons.

The lingering rally highlighted the second round when Carmela Lopez dived and saved the ball twice for an early tie, 5-5. Within the round, the Falcons flunked to make a dig for a classic three hit leading to another tie, 11-11. UP’s drive fell short when Lady Maroon Cathy Barcelon’s net ball serve led the Falcons to the 20-mark. The round ended again with the Falcons’ lead, 21-25.

When the Adamson ladies were only one-point short of winning the game during the third and final round, Pauline Genido brought back impetus as she killed two rallies for the Maroons. Yet, the UP players failed to sustain it, and Lopez’s quirky net ball etched the clear defeat for the Lady Maroons, 19-25.

Insufficient training for the new players was generally behind the loss, said coach Ronal Dulay. But he said he sees lot of potential in the line of UP volleyball players and thinks the team is getting the right skills.

The Lady Maroons, ranking second to the last among the eight teams, will have their next game against National University Lady Bulldogs at the Far Eastern University (FEU) gym on January 13.

Meanwhile, the UP men’s volleyball team, currently ranking fourth with Adamson’s, lopsidedly lost its match to Ateneo de Manila University with 25-22, 25-10, 18-25, 20-25, 24-22 on January 11. Their seventh game will be held at the same gym on January 13.

(This report was published in print in issue 21 of the Philippine Collegian on 15 January 2009.)