MANILA, Philippines - San Sebastian College turned an expected down-to-the-wire contest with University of Santo Tomas into a virtual romp, fashioning out a straight-set 25-17, 25-22, 25-19 victory to gain the headstart in their title showdown in the Shakey’s V-League presented by Cherifer at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Stags unloaded a potent mix of power, defense and poise to startle the Tigresses and move within a win from completing a back-to-back title romp over the very same team they swept in last year’s second conference finals.

Five Stags churned out double-digit outputs to underscore SSC’s balanced offensive sock with Thai import Jaroensri Bualee living up to her billing as the league’s top scorer with 16 hits, including 15 spikes.

Rysabelle Devanadera, joint No. 12 in the scoring list after the Final Four, also went on the attack mode, firing 15 points on quick plays, while Analyn Benito, Suzanne Roces and Laurence Ann Latigay had 12, 11 and 10, respectively, as the awesome fivesome accounted for all but one of SSC’s 75 points in the one-hour, 12-minute encounter.

“Everybody played well. They all stepped up in the finals,” said SSC coach Roger Gorayeb. “We may have lost twice to UST this conference, but we won the game that mattered most.”

Setter Charisse Ancheta had one point in the game but produced 79 excellent sets, mostly for Bualee and Devanadera as the Lady Stags took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series.

“We controlled their main spikers while we did well in our reception,” said Gorayeb.

SSC goes for the clincher on Sunday.

Earlier, Adamson drew a big offensive game from Jill Gustilo as it turned back Far Eastern U, 26-24, 25-17, 25-27, 25-19, to likewise gain the headstart in their duel for third place in the league sponsored Shakey’s Pizza and Cherifer and organized by Sports Vision.

Gustilo, who normed only seven spikes from the elims to the semis to finish No. 18 in the scoring list, made 14 kills and finished with 17 points as she helped power the dethroned Lady Falcons to victory.

Guest player and MVP Nerissa Bautista, back in the fold after a stint in a beach volley tilt in Vietnam, topscored for Adamson with 19 points but yielded the spiking honors to Gustilo as she wound up with 13 attacks in their four-set win.

Adamson also shoots for third place honors on Sunday.

For live webcast of the games, log on to www.v-league.ph. The Adamson-FEU match will also be shown on NBN-4 starting at 2 p.m. today.

A service ace by Roces gave SSC a 21-9 lead in the third set and although the Tigresses fought back by taking nine of the next 10 points, capped by a block by Mary Jean Balse, the Lady Stags went to Devanadera, who scored on quick plays to complete the sweep.

Balse finished with 16 for UST but guest player Michelle Carolino, who averaged in double figures from the elims to the semis, was held to a conference-low nine points.

SSC seized control early at 9-2 in the opening set but UST, with Balse taking charge, tied it at 10 before Bualee and Benito combined to carry the team to the win which the Lady Stags sustained in a tight second set victory.