Games Friday (The Arena, San Juan)
2 p.m. — Adamson vs CSB
4 p.m. — Ateneo vs UST

The Adamson Lady Falcons made the birthday of coach Dulce Pante a memorable one by pulling off a thrilling 20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-21 win over the Ateneo Lady Eagles on Tuesday to keep their flickering semifinal hopes alive in the sixth Shakey’s V-League at The Arena in San Juan.

Dulce turned 66 and the Lady Falcons did not disappoint their mentor, coming back from a first set meltdown to tie their victims at fourth on similar 6-5 win-loss records.

The Lady Falcons, who drew firepower from Angela Benting, Jill Gustillo and Paulina Soriano, need to beat College of St. Benilde on Friday and hope for an Ateneo loss to University of Santo Tomas on the same day to clinch the last berth in the Final Four.

Should both teams hurdle their respective rivals, they will forge a playoff for the last semis berth.

Charo Soriano, Ateneo’s guest player, returned from a nine-day vacation from the US, but her presence failed to ignite the fire they needed to sustain their opening set win.

In the first game Analyn Joy Benito strengthened her bid to win the MVP plum as she produced another stellar performance in helping San Sebastian formalize its entry to the semifinals with a 25-23, 26-24, 25-21, 25-16 win over the Lady Blazers.