MANILA, Philippines — Adamson University bucked a shaky start and found its rhythm in time to fend off Lyceum of the Philippines University, 29-27, 25-21, 25-18, in the 2026 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Unity Cup on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Falcons displayed maturity and resolve after the Lady Pirates put up a tough challenge in the first two frames before Adamson cruised in the third set to begin their Pool D campaign on a winning note.
Joy Aseo finished with eight points on six kills, one kill block and an ace while Red Bascon, Abegail Segui and Third Tuddao added seven markers each for Adamson in the opening day of the league’s centerpiece competition, backed Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner and R&B Milk Tea.
Frances Mordi posted six points, Janna Dizon got five while Kamille Dionisio scored four of her five markers on kill blocks for the Lady Falcons, who gave ace spiker Shaina Nitura more time to rest after a grueling tour of duty for Alas Pilipinas in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Fully adjusted after a scary extended first set and surviving a tight closing stretch of the second, Adamson raced to a 5-0 lead in the third and widened the gap to 19-9 on its way to victory in the one-hour, 40-minute match. “Bad start talaga sa aming lahat and alam namin sa sarili namin yun. Habang nasa labas (ng court) nag-reflect kaming lahat. Isang adjustment rin namin ay maging alive and mag-smile sa game,” Tuddao said.
Adamson was sluggish in the opening frame and played catch-up. The Lady Falcons saved three set points before Mordi landed an ace to put Adamson on top, 25-24.
Back-to-back errors by Aseo surrendered the set point advantage to Lyceum, 27-26. Adamson exploited Ashley Muchillas’ costly service error, putting the set away with a Mordi off-speed hit followed by an Aseo kill.
Adamson shattered a 20-20 second set deadlock with a closing 5-l run to take a 2-0 match lead.
The Lady Falcons return to action on October 9 against University of the Philippines.
Muchillas paced the Lady Pirates with 13 points on 12 kills and a kill block while Roxie Dela Cruz and Sarah Lumbang added six and five points, respectively.
Lyceum will try to bounce back on Sunday against University of the East. Meanwhile, action continues Saturday with another triple-header after the 11 a.m. opening ceremony of the tournament supported by Smart, PusoP.com, Summit Natural Drinking Water, with the Philippine Sports Commission, Commission on Higher Education, Mikasa, Asics, Rigour Technology, Jersey Haven, Solar Sports and 12 Beyond Production as technical partners.
Five-peat-seeking National University battles San Beda University at 5 p.m. in Pool A.
Last year’s runner-up University of Santo Tomas debuts opposite College of Saint Benilde at 1 p.m. in Pool B while FEU and Ateneo De Manila University square off at 3 p.m. in Pool C. All games are available live and on demand via PusoP.com and Solar Sports.
In the second game, Mapua University dominated Jose Rizal University, 25-21, 25-14, 25-21, for a strong start in Pool B.
Raissa Ricablanca fired 10 of her 11 points on kills to lead the Lady Cardinals to a quick 90-minute victory.
She got plenty of help, with Freighanne Garcia chipping in nine points, Franchesca Esteban scoring seven markers, and Diandrah Yabut and Juliana Estudillo adding five points each for Mapua, which got 23 points off the Lady Bombers’ errors.
“Sobrang importante ng game na ito and ito yung first league namin ito after NCAA. Sobrang importante nito sa buong team at mga bago naming players sa team,” Garcia said.
Nicole Deala’s 16 points she collected from 14 attacks, a kill block and an ace went down the drain for JRU. Czarina Ramos added eight in a lost cause. TMT
