It took University of Santo Tomas a set to warm up and fire on all cylinders on Sunday against a hard-nosed College of St. Benilde side before carving out a 25-23, 25-15, 25-20 victory to seal a clash with Far Eastern University for the 2024 V-League Women’s Collegiate Challenge title.

The Golden Tigresses, the UAAP runners-up last season, were dragged into a nip-and-tuck first set before dominating the last two at PhilSports Arena to advance opposite the Lady Tamaraws, 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 winners over the University of the East Lady Warriors in the other semifinal.

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They will open the best-of-three championship series on Sunday.

“The team just stuck to our system. The players moved really well out there,” Santo Tomas coach KungFu Reyes said in Filipino. “We’re gaining maturity every game, little by little. And the harmony in the team is really there.

Total control

“The players are playing their roles, and making the finals is a good indication of how the team is.”

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Jonna Perdido broke a 23-all first set tie with a crosscourt kill that sent the Tigresses off. She finished with 16 points, with Regine Jurado, another lefty, accounting for 12 and nine excellent digs.

The dethroned champion Lady Blazers dropped into a battle for the crumbs with the Lady Warriors also on Sunday at noon.

Far Eastern flaunted total control in the first two sets before weathering a UE fight-back in the third to gain another crack at the championship.

“We’re happy (to make the finals) but we still had so many lapses,” skipper Tin Ubaldo said in Filipino. “It was also a good sign for us that we were able to bounce back from those lapses today.”