Univ. of Santo Tomas showed its championship form and got back at San Sebastian 25-21, 25-22, 25-23, to force a winner-take-all match for the crown in the sixth Shakey’s V-League presented by Cherifer before an overflow crowd that included Mayor JV Ejercito at The Arena Sunday.
Michelle Carolino blasted away 14 kills, the last piercing through the Lady Stags’ defense and clinching the one-hour, 24-minute victory for the Tigresses, who avenged their 17-25, 22-25, 19-25 setback in the opener of their best-of-three title playoff.
Mary Jean Balse, motivated by her victory in the MVP derby earlier, fired 13 hits, including two blocks, while skipper Aiza Maizo also scored 13 points, spiked by 11 attacks, as the Tigresses revived their hopes for a fourth championship in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and Cherifer.
Behind Balse and Carolino, UST rallied from 10-15 down in the third set by winning six of the next seven points to draw level then surged ahead by taking seven of the next nine, including four straight points from SSC errors.
But the Lady Stags refused to give up and battled back to within 23-24 on Thai import Jaroensri Bualee’s hit but Carolino took over and finished off their rivals with another kill before a roaring crowd of close to 4,000.
UST and SSC, seeking a follow-up to its conquest of last year’s second conference crown, dispute the title in sudden death on Tuesday.
Earlier, Adamson hung tough in three gut-wrenching sets and hacked out a 27-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory over Far Eastern U to clinch third place honors in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa, Mighty Bond and OraCare.
Last conference’s MVP Nerissa Bautista and Paulina Soriano fired 14 hits apiece while Jill Gustilo added 10 as the Lady Falcons survived an extended first-set encounter, 15 deadlocks in the second frame and another cliffhanger in the third to complete the hard-earned sweep of the Lady Tams in their own best-of-three series.
The San Marcelino-based squad thus settled for the bronze medal in the conference it ruled last year while the Lady Tams, led by Mayette Carolino’s 18 and Maica Morada’s 10 points, posted their best-ever finish in the league.
Balse became the league’s first two-time MVP when she bagged the coveted individual crown during the rites honoring the conference’s top performers. Balse, who also copped the MVP Plum in 2004 while powering UST to three titles, edged the fancied Bualee for top honors.
Bualee was named the league’s best scorer while Laurence Ann Latigay of SSC and UST’s Maizo took the best attacker and best blocker titles, respectively.
Other winners in the conference were Morada (best server), Adamson’s libero Lizlee Ann Gata (best digger), Rhea Dimaculangan of UST (best setter), and San Sebastian ‘s Marge Pepito (best receiver).
FEU’s top hitter Shaira Gonzalez captured the Cherifer’s most improved player plum.
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