Galanza explodes as Lady Falcons escape scare from Tigresses

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Jessica Galanza unloaded a career-high of 28 points to power the Adamson Lady Falcons to their first win in a nail-biting 5-set thriller against the UST Tigresses, 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 30-28, 16-14, in the Season 78 women’s volleyball tournament, February 3, at the PhilSports Arena. 

The Lady Falcons dominated the game early in the first two sets but the Lady Tigresses didn’t give up so easily and prevented a straight set victory for the girls of Coach Sherwin Meneses. 

Mylene Paat and Mary Roque, who contributed 19 and 13 markers apiece, were also key factors in overcoming a resilient challenge posted by UST. 

The Lady Tigresses bounced back in the third canto courtesy of the defensive muscle by the net provided by Ria Meneses, coming from an 11-5 deficit to tie the game at 13-13. Meneses recorded a total of 5 blocks throughout the game. 

Adamson retaliated with the attacking of Galanza, who rallied 15 points in just 3 sets. But UST kept it alive with the kills of Cortez and Season 77 Rookie of the Year EJ Laure.

A slew of attack errors from the Lady Falcons gave the Lady Tigresses momentum, 24-20, until a Meneses block gave the third set to UST. 

The fourth set was a showdown between power-hitting spikers Galanza and UST’s Cherry Rondina who both recorded a career-high of 28 and 30 points respectively today. UST’s Laure scored the last point, 30-28, to force a fifth set.

The Adamson Lady Falcons continued to show mental toughness in the final set and spoiled debuting UST Coach Kungfu Reyes from a first win, 16-14.

Rondina’s 30 points built off 25 attacks, 3 aces, and two blocks weren’t enough to drive the España-based squad to victory. Team Captain EJ Laure and Ria Meneses also added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Adamson will next face National University on February 6 while UST comes up against Ateneo on February 7. – Rappler.com