Far Eastern University (FEU) women's beach volleyball team claimed their sixth win while the men's suffered their third loss in their final matches of University Athletic association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 beach volleyball tournament elimination rounds last November 25 at the Sands SM By The Bay volleyball sand court in Pasay City.

Right off the bat, the Morayta volleybelles showed their eagerness to achieve their sixth win of the elimination round, going in an 8-0 run, stopped by a Gerzel Petallo service error.

While the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons were able to take advantage of the lax moments of FEU's floor defense, the barrage of the Lady Tamaraws continued as the game went on, maintaining a comfortable lead with shared offense between their players.

The Petallo-Pons dominance was deemed unstoppable for Adamson as FEU took the first set with a Melody Pons service ace, 21-8.

It was a more dominant start for the green-and-gold squad in the second set, securing an 11-0 lead through a strong showing from Petallo, scoring eight of the 11.

The continuous flurry of aces and attacks went on from the Morayta-based squad as they barely missed a step, not giving the San Marcelino-based squad a chance to catch their rhythm.

The game ended with an Adamson service fault, as FEU recorded a game-high lead of 14 points, 21-7.

During a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, Petallo expressed their happiness to have improved their standings from last year.

“Syempre po, super happy kami na nakaabot kami ng ganyang record since last year, we’re fifth place and sobrang pagod kami no’n. Hindi siya kagaya ngayon na sobrang light lang ng feeling namin kasi nananalo. (Of course, we are super happy that we reached this record because last year, we’re fifth place and we were exhausted back then. It was not like right now wherein the feeling is so light because we have been winning),” she said.

Pons then emphasized the need for discipline and respect as they go into the final four.

“Disiplina tapos respeto pa rin sa kalaban kasi hindi rin sila basta-basta magbibigay ng puntos sa’min eh. Galaw lang nang maayos tapos do’n na papasok ‘yung magandang resulta. (We need discipline and respect for our opponents since they will not give us points just like that. We need to move properly and from there comes good results),” she added.

Meanwhile, the FEU men's beach volley team was off to an error-filled start in a rainy match against the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Blue Eagles as they were down, 2-5, leading to the first court switch.

The deficit only grew as the Tamaraws failed to create successful plays off poor receptions of AdMU's strong attacks, only scoring half of the Katipunan-based squad's points, 7-14, when the technical timeout took place.

Off the technical timeout, the Morayta-based squad showed hope for a comeback as they were able to lessen their errors and trade blows with their opponent, but the early Ateneo lead proved too big to bounce back from, ending the set, 13-21.

Fortunately, the green-and-gold squad improved their excellent play as they began the second set with better hits, going back-and-forth with the Blue Eagles, leading to a tie of 7-7.

The exchange of both attacks and errors occurred as the set went on, with neither side failing to gain sole momentum, causing FEU to call for a timeout when the score read 16-16, the eighth deadlock of the set.

However, the match remained a seesaw affair despite adjustments from both teams, with multiple more deadlocks taking place.

A chance for the Tamaraws to force a third set showed itself when they were at the verge of match point, 21-20, but unfortunately, a Vincent Nadera service error led the game to a deuce.

The match kept the audience at their feet as several long rallies ensued between the teams, but the intense game finished with a heartbreak for the Nadera-Javelona tandem as they failed to receive a crosscourt attack from Ateneo off a chance ball, hitting the line, 22-24.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, Nadera explained the reason for the loss against Ateneo. 

“Simula ng laro, focus kami sa sistema namin eh. Siguro, napag-unahan kami ng mga unforced error tapos naka-build sila ng momentum and 'di namin na-overcome ‘yung ganong challenge. Hindi kami ganu’n kadali nag-adjust sa first set pero nakuha na sana sa second set. Do’n na lang kami babawi sa semis. (At the start of the game, we focused on our system. Maybe, we just got beat by our unforced errors then they were able to build momentum and we were not able to overcome that challenge. We did not adjust easily in the first set but we almost got it in the second set. We will just bounce back in the semis),” he said.

JJ Javelona then mentioned how they feel about achieving their goal of going back to the final four.

“Maganda kasi marami kaming natutuhan tapos balik kami sa final four. ‘Yung mga errors namin kanina, dapat ‘di na namin gawin sa semis kasi ibang usapan na ‘yung laro. (It is good because we learned a lot of things and we are back in the final four. For our errors earlier, we need to avoid them in the semis since the stakes are different),” he added.

Both teams advance to the final four as the FEU men’s beach volleyball team with a 4-3 record aim to upset National University (NU), while the women’s with a 6-1 record will face University of Santo Tomas (UST) on November 28 in the same venue.

-Vince Matthew Jaramilla

(Photo by Francis Dait/FEU Athletics Department)