By Angel Joyce C. Basa

Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws lost out on their finals hopes under the hands of reigning champions National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 14-25, 15-17, during the semifinals round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 women’s volleyball tourney this afternoon, May 3, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The green-and-gold volleybelles established a strong start in the first frame with the help of Gerzel Petallo’s back-to-back pitches of attacks and an error from NU’s side to push their score away to a two-point lead, 4-2.

Jaz Ellarina and Faida Bakanke then added onto the scoreboard with attacks which continued their dominance until halfway through the set for a five-point advantage, 14-9. The Lady Bulldogs were able to catch up for a deuce at the 16-point marker.

Despite NU’s attempts to claim the set, the Lady Tamaraws remained consistent with their offensive department while the Lady Bulldogs boosted their scores by committing successive errors to close the set at 25-20.

Even with a similar outcome on the second set, the Jhocson-based champions trailed behind FEU’s score, holding on to a tight one-point gap, 12-13.

The one-point game remained until the last stretch of the frame before Petallo powered through with two attacks and a block for a three-point game advantage, 25-22.

The third set mirrored the match’s first frame—this time, in favor of the blue-and-gold squad for an extended semis face-off, 23-25.

However, in the fourth set, the Lady Tamaraws earned a big point disadvantage at 11-19. Head coach Tina Salak attempted to revive the team’s chances by subbing in rookie standout Lovely Lopez, but her two-point output was not enough for a come-from-behind approach, 14-25.

The game was forced to a fifth set decider where the girls in green and gold fought to an extended set but were thwarted of a triumphant finish, 15-17.

In their pursuit for a title comeback, four Lady Tamaraws scored double digits with Bakanke leading with 15, Petallo and Ellarina with 14, and outside hitter Chenie Tagaod with 10, while team captain Tin Ubaldo recorded 22 excellent sets.

During the post-game conference, Lady Tams lead tactician Salak shared her thoughts on the team’s defining character going up against a champion team and coming from a win against De La Salle University into the Final Four of Season 87.

“NU kasi parang ano, strong team [and] champion team, exceptional ang lahat ng mga players [nila], but still, andun kami [sa level nila]. We’re there. Ang sa’kin, ang ganda nung programa na binuild namin in a span of three years, ‘di ba? (NU is a strong team and a champion team, their players are all exceptional, but still we are at their level. What I mean is we have a good program that we built in a span of three years, right?),” she stated.

Senior player Tagaod also shared how proud she is of her team over what they have achieved from their past seasons’ heartbreak.

“Nung una pang pinagdaanan namin na nasa top eight kami nung Season 84… Ngayon na sa span of three years, dalawang final four [appearance], sobrang—sobra-sobra as in—sobrang laki ng improvement. Kinapos man kami, oo, pero alam namin na binigay namin ‘yung best namin ngayon (What we went through when we were at the top 8 in Season 84, Coach Tina said that we have improved a lot since that season that now in a span of three years, two final four appearances. There’s a really big improvement. We fell short, yes, but we know that we gave our best),” she said.

With their finals comeback dream gone, the Lady Tamaraws end the season retaining their rank four placement in the league.

(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)