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 on Thursday at the Adamson Gym in Ermita, Manila.
The 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.
“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 assitant coach Yani Fernandez.
With their second-stringers finding their groove against the gritty Blue Eagles side in the third set, it was Ysa Chua and Avril Bron who created the separation for the Junior Golden Tigresses to push a 10-9 margin to a 15-9 cushion.
Kim Rubin eventually pulled off the finishing touches from the service line, scoring three aces to wrap up the match and UST’s pivotal win.
NUNS also set up for that crucial encounter against UST for the postseason rankings, putting an end to University of the Philippines Integrated School’s campaign with a winless slate, 25-7, 25-10, 25-7.
The Lady Bullpups moved to 7-4 in fourth place, a game behind the Lady Baby Tamaraws and the Junior Golden Tigresses. A win on Saturday against UST will force a possible triple tie in second place, provided Adamson pulls off the sweep at the expense of FEU-D on the following day.
“This week naman talaga we’re using these games as preparation for the game against UST. Para ma-practice namin sa game ‘yung training namin,” said NUNS head coach Norman Miguel.
“Since day 1 na natalo kami sa FEU, ang sabi namin sa kanila, kung gusto niyong mag-champion uli kailangan ‘yung thirst, kailangang uhaw kayong makuha ‘yun uli,” he added.
DLSZ and Ateneo slipped to 3-8 and 2-9 win-loss cards and will close their respective campaigns on Saturday. Meanwhile, UPIS ended its season in eighth with a 0-12 slate.
Games Saturday (AdU Gym)
10 a.m. – Ateneo vs DLSZ (Girls)
12 noon – UPIS vs Ateneo (Boys)
2 p.m. – DLSZ vs UST (Boys)
4 p.m. – UST vs NUNS (Girls)