ADAMSON University kept its composure, then leaned on guest player Neriza Bautista in the third set as the Lady Falcons hacked out a shocking  25-22, 25-21, 25-23 victory over fancied San Sebastian College (SSC) to seize the solo lead in the Shakey’s V-League Season 5 at The Arena in San Juan Tuesday.

Bautista broke SSC’s defense with her power hits as the Lady Falcons thwarted the Lady Stags’ fightback from a 1-8 deficit to post the scrambling two-point win in the third set and complete the San Marcelino-based stunning victory over the three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association champions.

“Bautista’s game has been improving as we go along, especially her powerful spikes that our rivals have difficulty reading,” said Adamson coach Dulce Pante.

JACQUELINE SO of Adamson breaks the defense of Rysabelle Devanadera of San Sebastian College. --NONIE REYES

Bautista came away with 19 kills, drilling in the bulk in that big third-set rally as she wound up with a 20-point performance to outplay counterpart Suzanne Roces, who stumbled with a service error with the score tied at 23-all in the third, before Angela Benting clinched it for Adamson with a kill.

It was Adamson’s third straight win and its straight-set victory over SSC came on the heels of the Falcons’ impressive romp over the Ateneo Lady Eagles on Sunday, virtually installing themselves as the team to beat in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

Meanwhile, Efren Gaa, an international referee of the league, was nominated by the Asian Volleyball Confederation to officiate as neutral referee in the finals of the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship slated from April 12 to 16 in Songkla, Thailand.

Benting backed Bautista up-front with nine attacks, including the game-winner, and finished with 11 points, while Michelle Segodine and Rissa Laguilles took care of the team’s net defense and wound up with 10 points apiece.

For details, log on at www.v-league.ph. The league is backed by Active White skin-whitening products, Mail and More, ICT Call Center, Mikasa and Accel.

Roces churned out a 13-point performance, but failed to keep the Lady Stags together, particularly in the third set, when they seemed to have gained the momentum after dropping the first two sets in close fashions.

Three other Lady Stags scored in double figures with Laurence Ann Latigay chipping in 11 and Rysabelle Devanadera and Jinni Mondejar each tossed in 10 points for San Sebastian, which dropped to 2-1.

Marquez: I’m here to demand, not beg

DETHRONED super-featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez on Tuesday clarified he came to Manila not to beg for a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, but to demand for one.

Louie still believes he can get hands on $0.13M

LUISITO ESPINOSA is not losing hope that he would still get his purse for a world title fight against Arentina’s Carlos Rios staged at the South Cotabato Stadium in Koronadal City more than 10 years ago.

ADAMSON University kept its composure, then leaned on guest player Neriza Bautista in the third set as the Lady Falcons hacked out a shocking  25-22, 25-21, 25-23 victory over fancied San Sebastian College (SSC) to seize the solo lead in the Shakey’s V-League Season 5 at The Arena in San Juan Tuesday.

Patrick Gregorio, the first to be named executive director of the powerful Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP), is contemplating stepping down from his post, a source said.

THE conference is barely two weeks old and yet the Coca-Cola Tigers are already making quite a noise.

HAPEE Toothpaste needed a strong first half in repulsing Burger King, 100-85, for its third-straight win Tuesday night in the 2008 Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

BACOLOD CITY—Defending national women’s champion University of Visayas (UV) easily disposed of University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) to open its back-to-back bid on a high note and lead the opening-day winners of the 12th Nestea Beach Volley Visayas Eliminations Tuesday at the University of St. La Salle sand courts.

Mercedes-Benz, the worldwide leader in luxury vehicles, is taking an aggressive stance in promoting golf in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region for 2008.  The German auto giant had recently signed a three-year deal as the Asean Golf Tour’s title sponsor.

THERE’S the saying “a sound mind, a sound body.”

No matter what is one’s religious persuasion, there’s no doubt that positive thinking, or faith for some, does wonders. Not because things would magically turn in one’s favor, but because positive thinking is a matter of changing one’s perspective.