FAR Eastern University bagged a crucial, morale-boosting win at the tail-end of the UAAP Season 86 High School Girls’ Volleyball tournament, following a 25-17, 25-17, 25-10 sweep of De La Salle Zobel yesterday at the Adamson Gym in Ermita, Manila.
The Lady Baby Tamaraws never looked back in the third and final set, and consequently bagged their eighth win against three defeats, heading into their final elimination round match against the 11-0 Adamson University on Sunday.
A win by the Baby Falcons will give them an outright passage to the Finals, paving the way for a step-ladder format.
A victory by FEU-D will have the Final Four on its traditional format
Using the momentum they got from winning the first two tight sets, FEU-D exploded in the third and final set to put up a double-digit lead at 17-7. Back-to-back kills from the middle from Love Lopez and Clarisse Loresco then helped extend the margin to 20-8.
“Actually medyo hirap kami mag-train ng maayos this week kasi sabay yung sa DepEd namin,” said Lady Baby Tamaraws head coach RJ Del Rosario.
“Pero paghahandaan pa rin namin ‘yung Adamson kasi may nakita na kong technique sa team ko. Kailangan ‘yung mindset namin is matalo namin Adamson, para medyo sure na kami sa second place,” he added.
The first two sets saw DLSZ take early leads against FEU-D using its serves as weapons against the latter’s errant reception with Ysa Gamboa, Aislinn Alemaña, and Sabine Valdez pounding on the opportunities.
Chie Premaylon had other plans as she exploded from the right side towards the middle parts of those sets to steer the Lady Baby Tamaraws to the leads, and eventually, the 2 sets-none advantage, ably helped by Lopez at the left.
University of Santo Tomas drew level at the standings with FEU-D with a similarly dominant victory against Ateneo 25-13, 25-10, 25-15 later in the afternoon.
“I-run through pa rin namin sa game ‘yung ginagawa sa training, especially ‘yung game namin sa Saturday is against (National University Nazareth School). Magandang run-through rin ito ng mga pwedeng gawin, pwedeng plays sa game namin sa Saturday,” said UST assistant coach Yani Fernandez.