By Leiniel A. Santos

Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws ended the first round of eliminations with a win over the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Spikers, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s volleyball tournament today, March 15, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

As the Tamaraws’ campaign for a perfect run started, FEU was not able to shrug off their cold feet having winning momentum in the first set as DLSU did not let them have at least a lead, 22-25.

After their first-set loss, the Morayta-based squad managed to even the match score, 1-1, with Dryx Saavedra and Mikko Espartero leading the charge, ending at 25-21.

During the start of the third set, the Green Archers seized control as they maintained their two-point lead, not until gaining back-to-back block points from Lirick Mendoza and Espartero to force a deadlock, 13-13.

Taft-based and former national team player Noel Kampton rallied his squad to halt FEU’s rhythm.

It then became a tightly contested affair until 22-22, but a game-changing block from Mendoza against Joshua Rodriguez showed force to steal the set, 25-22.

In the fourth set, the green-and-gold squad had a huge early seven-point lead. However, DLSU lit up their scoreboard with a 4-0 run that made head coach Eddieson Orcullo call a timeout.

Fortunately, the Tamaraws were able to pull off a 6-3 surge to claim their last win in the first round.

In a post-game interview, Coach Orcullo mentioned that they will not stop until the end.

“Wala nang titigil sa ginagawa namin. Kung ano man ‘yung nasimulan namin, hanggang dulo, gusto namin ma-sustain (No one will stop with what we are doing. Whatever we’ve started, we want to sustain it until the end),” he said.

He added that they will extract more effort going into the second round.

“Do’n kami nanggagaling lagi eh, sa nangyari nung Season 86. Kung ano man nangyari ‘yun, mas motivation yun sa’min. Ngayong second round, mas dodoblehin namin ‘yung trabaho na gagawin namin (That’s always where we’re coming from—what happened in Season 86. Whatever happened then, it’s even more motivation for us. This second round, we’ll double the effort we put in),” the head tactician added.

Tamaraw Espartero led the scoring load for FEU with 27 points from 21 attacks, five aces, and a block, while Dryx Saavedra remained a force with 17 points from 16 attacks and one block. Lirick Mendoza contributed 13 points from 10 attacks and three blocks.

Despite ending again in the top spot, the Orcullo-led squad changed their story and pulled off a round one sweep that they failed to achieve last season.

(Photo by Zedrich Zylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)