Since their last sweep in Season 80, outside hitter Gerzel Petallo drove the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws to topple the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses, 25-22, 26-24, 17-25, 26-24, in the second round of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 women’s volleyball tourney today, March 23, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Petallo recorded a near triple-double with 11 attacks–with five in a late-game surge, 15 digs, and seven excellent receptions.

In a post-game press conference, the outside hitter emphasized the importance of staying determined amid different situations in every game.

“Kung sasabihin po nating consistency, medyo mahirap siyang kamitin… pero pinapahalagahan po talaga namin every game is ‘yung grit, even though may ups and downs kami (If we talk about consistency, it’s hard to get a hold of… however, we prioritize grit every game despite the ups and downs),” Petallo mentioned.

The Morayta-based volleybelles established an early lead as they stood firm on their defense against the Golden Tigresses.

With the help of middle blocker Jaz Ellarina, the Lady Tams were able to sustain their lead until the end of the first frame, 25-22.

Entering the second set, both teams found themselves at their first standstill, 11-11.

FEU slowly lost grip of the lead, eventually to UST’s offense. Fortunately, it was not long until Lovely Lopez reeled three consecutive points off the bench to take the set from 23-24 to 26-24.

It remained a balanced matchup between the Morayta and España teams in the third frame, not until the green-and-gold squad were faced with their largest deficit by far of eight points, 9-17.

After making the crucial decision to sub out Petallo and Faida Bakanke for Melody Pons and Clarisse Loresco halfway through, the Lady Tams failed to overtake the eight-point gap, denying them a three-set win, 17-25.

The Tina Salak-led team found themselves fatigued going into the fourth set, showing signs of struggle to keep up with the Tigresses’ fast-paced attacks up until the second technical timeout. This resulted in a six-point deficit, 10-16.

It was only a matter of time until Petallo initiated the late-game comeback, locking in a 26-24 match end.

Bakanke finished as the top scorer of the match with a total of 22 points, while Ellarina logged 12 markers.

FEU head coach Tina Salak hopes to extend their performance throughout the second round.

“Hopefully magandang start ito for the second round, looking forward for more. Isa-isa, kung problema namin ngayon UST, next game namin UE [University of the East]. Isa-isahin natin until makuha ‘yung panalo (Hopefully this would be a good start to the second round, as we look forward to more. One by one, if UST is our problem now, UE is next. We will go step by step until we win),” she stated.

Petallo then shared how they will commit to their statement of being contenders for the season.

“Paninindigan po namin ‘yung sinabi kong ‘contender’ kasi talagang malaki na po ‘yung in-improve ng team from before so paninindigan lang po namin ‘yung lahat ng ginawa namin na effort then… move forward na ulit (We will stay true to what I said that we are ‘contenders’ because the team’s improvement is far from before so we will play behind all the effort we put in then… we move forward again),” she added.

As they are now tied with UST with a 5-3 win-loss record, FEU seeks to advance into a higher spot in the top four as they face UE on Wednesday, March 26, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

- Joshua Kyle M. Beltran 
(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)