MANILA, Philippines – All the “studying” paid off for the FEU Lady Tomaraws.
Showing they did their assignment, the Lady Tamaraws controlled the tempo most of the way to trip the UST Golden Tigresses, 25-19, 16-25, 25-14, 25-20, to open the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday, February 15, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Lady Tamaraws dominated the Tigresses in the attack department, 54-37, as four players scored double-digits.
“The team’s direction has been there. Going against UST, we studied them for two weeks. Our efforts did not go to waste,” said returning FEU head coach Tina Salak, who was a consultant for the team last season.
Faida Bakanke led FEU with 16 points off 14 attacks, while Gerzel Petallo and Jean Asis put up 15 and 14 markers, respectively, to lift the Lady Tamaraws.
Chenie Tagaod also added 10 markers, on top of Christine Ublado’s 12 excellent sets to orchestrate the offense for the Lady Tamaraws.
After dropping the second set, the Lady Tamaraws stepped on the gas the rest of the way, starting the third set with a 15-5 run en route to dominating UST in the third frame before ending the fourth set on a 6-1 blast for the win.
The Tigresses struggled to find their groove in the game as Angge Poyos only scored 13 points, while debuting rookie Marga Altea and Reg Jurado tallied 10 each in UST’s return after finishing with a silver medal last year.
The Tigresses also coughed up 30 errors, doubling FEU’s tally in their loss.
FEU will be back in action against the UP Lady Maroons on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOIl Centre, while UST will face the UE Lady Warriors on Saturday at the same venue.
Earlier, UP staved off a gutsy UE rally to open the season on a high note, 25-18, 26-24, 24-26, 13-25, 15-13.
With the season-opening win, UP has already matched its win total last year, where they finished with a 1-13 win-loss record.
Joan Monares led the Lady Maroons with 17 points, while rookie Kianne Olango added 15 markers.
Irah Jaboneta and Nina Ytang also put up 12 and 11 points, respectively, to pull UP away from disaster after winning the first two sets.
“First game of the season, the players were excited. They did not know what to expect. They also did not know what to expect from the changes in UE,” UP coach Benson Bocboc said in Filipino.
“Good for us that we got the fifth set,” he added.
On the other hand, KC Cepada carried the cudgels for UE with 24 points off 23 attacks to mark her season debut with the new-look Lady Warriors. Nessa Bangayan also added 17 markers in the losing effort. – Rappler.com