FRANCES Mordi and Shai Nitura delivered the crucial hits at crunch time as Adamson lived to fight another day with a masterful sweep of twice-to-beat University of the Philippines, 25-20, 25-17, 26-24, in the 2026 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Unity Cup quarterfinals Saturday at the Muntinlupa Sports Center.
The veteran duo combined for 15 points in the third set while main setter Fhei Sagaysay returned from an ankle injury and orchestrated the Lady Falcons’ relentless assault in the one-hour, 30-minute victory.
The third-ranked Lady Falcons will try to complete a reversal of the higher-ranked Fighting Maroons in a sudden death for a semifinal seat Sunday at the same Muntinlupa venue.
“Siyempre, twice-to-beat ‘yung UP. Mahirap talaga sa part namin na kailangan namin silang talunin ng dalawang beses. Ang kailangan lang naming gawin ay maging composed kami para sa next game namin and more effort pa sa naging outcome ngayon,” Sagaysay said.
Mordi scored 15 points, 10 in the third set, on 12 kills, two kill blocks and an ace while Nitura finished with nine markers on a 9-of-22 spiking clip for Adamson, which avenged its group stage loss to UP.
Sagaysay, back after a one-month recovery from a right ankle injury, tallied 12 excellent sets to help the Lady Falcons punch in 43 attack points.
“First of all grateful ako na nakabalik ako after one month. Ang napi-feel ko lang ngayon ay sobrang saya dahil na-overcome namin as a team ang challenge ngayon. We know na hindi pa ito pagtatapos and alam namin na marami pang challenges and mas marami pa kaming mga games na kailangang harapin at challenges na kailangan naming i-overcome as a team,” Sagaysay said.
Jelai Gajero scored 13 of her 14 points on kills while Kianne Olango added eight on six spikes and two blocks for the Fighting Maroons.
The winner of the Adamson-UP do-or-die match will face the survivor between five-peat-seeking National University and Letran in the knockout semifinals.
