By Andrei M. Barrantes

Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws suffered a straight-sweep loss from De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers, 20-25, 17-25, 22-25, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 women’s volleyball tourney earlier today, February 21, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The team struggled early on in the first set, trailing by as much as six points. Open spikers Chenie Tagaod and Gerzel Petallo kept the set interesting, serving five and four markers, respectively.

FEU’s error-prone play worsened in the second set as the Morayta volleybelles committed 12 unforced errors to DLSU’s eight, to which FEU only mustered up 17 points to close the set.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, Petallo spoke on the team’s errors and how they can remedy moving forward

“Siguro maayos namin talaga ‘yan sa training.Talagang 100% palagi sa training, walang relax-relax ganon. Kasi may next game pa naman na pwede namin siyang mabawi (I think we can really refine it during training. We need to really pour 100% and avoid relaxing because we still have plenty games left to redeem the loss),” she said.

In the third set, a revived FEU squad kept the score close, even taking the lead off back-to-back points from Jean Asis. 

At the 10-10 deadlock, consecutive attack errors from the Lady Tams helped the Lady Spikers pull away, sealing the sweep 22-25.

Petallo commended the team for being able to put up a fight against the defending champion Lady Spikers, despite losing in straight sets.

“Champion team sila diba, tapos ang tatangkad pa. It’s very good na, although hindi namin siya natapos [nang maayos], ‘yun na sana 'yung chance namin… Pero it’s a good experience na nakalaban namin sila ng gan'un tapos hindi naman kami lumayo sa kanila ng scoring so maganda naman yung pinapakita namin (They’re the champion team, plus they are really tall. It was very good although we didn’t finish the set properly, that was supposed to be our chance… Though it was a good experience to compete with them like that and we didn’t trail that far in scoring so we played fairly well),” she added.

Petallo had an all-around performance with seven points, eight digs and 10 receptions, while Tagaod, Asis and Congolese hitter Faida Bakanke chipped in six markers each.

The Lady Tams received a blemish on their win-loss record, falling to 1-1 as they prepare to face the neighbor University of the East (UE) on Sunday, February 25, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

(Photo by Ralph Mari Castro/FEU Advocate)