But as the players headed to the dugout after the match at The Arena, it was the Lady Altas who flashed the smiles of a victorious team.

In an unprecedented move, the league organizers forfeited the Lady Falcons’ win after an ineligible player was fielded on the court in the second set.

V-League commissioner Tony Liao informed Adamson coach Dulce Pante of the forfeiture as early as the end of the second set, but the Lady Falcons were told to play on and won, 25-20, 25-15, 25-19.

But the score will stand as 25-0, 25-0, 25-0 following the forfeiture.

Liao said Adamson violated a provision in the league rules on using guest players when coach Pante Dulce fielded Faye Guevarra as their third guest player.

National beach volleyball standouts Micmic Laborte and Nerissa Bautista are Adamson’s two guest players. Under league rules, a team can only utilize three guest players - instead of the usual two - provided that all three are enrolled students in any school in the country.

Since Laborte and Bautista are no longer students, Adamson cannot field in a third guest player.

“They violated the special provisions for guest players, and that she’s not also included in the team’s line up in the previous UAAP tournament which is one of the league’s requirements for eligibility,” Liao said.

Pante accepted the decision in stride, but stressed that the organizers failed to clear things out.

“I thought we can use three guest players as long as one of them is a student. They failed to clear things out,” Pante said.

Asked if she sees the incident as an isolated attack on the team’s bid for a back-to-back title, Pante said: “I don’t know. Ang alam ko lang malakas ang team namin.”

It was the first time the league forfeited a game since the invitational tournament was established in 2004.

Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin