By Celest Flores
MANILA, Philippines— (UPDATE) Ateneo de Manila UniversityLady Eagles prevailed at the heels of a forfeiture of its first win even as Adamson University Lady Falcons powered its way back to the finals of the Shakey’s V-League 1st conference Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Eagles, upon learning of the forfeiture this morning, left no stones unturned in game two as they socked the National University Lady Bulldogs, 25-14, 25-18, 25-20.
“I just told the kids that we shall not do anything that will affect how we play on the court,” said Ateneo head coach Charo Soriano, whose squad knotted the series at 1-all.
They definitely played like they hadn’t lost a valuable advantage as the Lady Eagles held the Lady Bulldogs on a chokehold for the entire match.
Guest player Kesinee Lithawat had 20 points, while Fille Cainglet led the locals 12 on 11 kills and a block.
Ateneo’s 25-27, 25-14, 25-10, 25-19 victory in the semifinals last Thursday was declared forfeited on a technical error on using a libero after a protest was filed the NU. (A “libero” is loosely defined a defensive specialist who plays in the back row or the player in a team who sports a jersey with a different color and design, and could enter and exit the game without permission from the umpire.)
The Lady Eagles fielded Beatriz Tan in libero as a regular player last Thursday, and was even allowed to play the entire fourth set.
But apparently, libero players registered cannot revert back as a regular player according to FIVB (Federation Internationale De Volleyball) regulations.
Soriano admits her coaching staff was at fault and takes full responsibility, but feels like things like that “could have been prevented.”
What could have been a 2-0 lead for the Lady Eagles turned to a free-for-all game three to be played on Thursday (May 12) at 4pm in the same venue.
Meanwhile, the Lady Falcons just made short work of University of St. La Salle-Bacolod in the best-of-three semifinals by downing the Lady Stingers, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17, in game two.
Guest player Nerissa Bautista fired in 22 markers, while skipper Angela Benting added 19 for Adamson, who are determined to avenge its runner-up finish to San Sebastian last year.
“We expected to be back in the finals. We wanted to finish the series immediately, and that’s what we did,” said Lady Falcons coach Dulce Pante.
Adamson will await the winner of the Ateneo-NU match.